A Promise To Keep
by Lourdes23
Summary: Pt. 2 of 'For Them And For Us: The Strength of Twelve'. Over a year later and old hurts are finally healing. Yet just when things look like the team can move on, an old vow comes back to haunt them... and take down one of their own! NarutoXHinata
1. The Unspeakable

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, its characters or even a kunai.

Chapter One: The Unspeakable

XXXX

They couldn't help but to watch, wide eyed and in awe.

It was not because the match was rapid and fierce - though it was; not because the combatants were in love - though they were; and certainly not because she had improved so greatly in such a short period of time - though she really had.

As Naruto and Hinata sparred the feel of the air around them was nearly hypnotic, bringing Sakura and Ino's practice to a standstill. It was the chemistry between the two that drew the women in. They were focused on one another; completely enraptured, or at least that was Sakura's opinion. In that moment nothing in their world existed except Hinata and Naruto.

It certainly made Sakura uncomfortable; thinking of Naruto in any sort of intimate scene.

Hinata's Juuken held nothing back and though Naruto _was_ holding back it was clear that he was not having as easy a time as he could. Neither one betrayed any trace of their relationship outwardly; fierce eyes, harsh blows and well-timed jutsus testified that this was a sparring match between two deadly shinobi.

_So why does it feel like they're sharing a private moment?_ Sakura blushed. Ino joined her, scrapes on her face fresh from their own bout.

"Naruto, sure, but I never pegged Hinata as an exhibitionist." She said slyly. Sakura almost chastised her friend for such a rude remark but stopped herself, thinking. It was true that the pink-haired woman had calmed greatly over recent months, but she was still Sakura after all...

"You're also getting the impression that this is more than practice?" She asked. Her friend chuckled.

"Next thing you know they'll be rolling in the grass together."

"Ino!" The blonde cackled wickedly and raised cupped hands to her mouth.

"You! Lovebirds! Get a room, already! You're making me hot!" Hinata's concentration broke and she turned wide eyes on her antagonist.

"What?!" Naruto's fist went unblocked and crashed soundly into the side of Hinata's head, sending the young woman flying a good distance before she finally hit the practice pole behind her. Naruto's eyes practically rolled from their sockets and he ran to her.

"Hinata, I'm so sorry!" He bent low, helping her to her feet. "What the hell, Ino! What the shit was that about?" Hinata chuckled, though she blushed hotly.

"I'm fine, it's okay." She said, using her hand to pull at the crick in her neck and opened her jaw, a slight pop sounding. And then the ebony-haired woman was smiling. "I saw it coming, but I just didn't react in time. Next time I'll keep my guard up." Ino shrugged self-consciously.

"Sorry 'bout that." She returned and Sakura shoved her crass friend a little. But no serious harm had been done and Hinata shook the grass from her hair.

"Hinata, you're looking great out there." The cherry blossom said truthfully.

"Really? Hey, do you want to see what Naruto taught me?" She grabbed her friends' hands and tugged them a short distance from the pole.

Ino sniggered. "Oiroke no Jutsu?" Hinata scowled.

"No! Watch." Her hands raised before her. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Another Hinata appeared beside her. Ino clapped drolly.

"Impressive. You can make a Bunshin." Hinata cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing, her hands once more before her. Naruto smiled cockily and moved to the side.

"I'd step back if I were you," he said to their friends.

"Odama Rasengan!" The two Hinatas cried, and the whirling ball of energy the girls had watched Naruto wield in battle just over a year ago launched from Hinata's palms, blasting the practice pole into slivers. The clone vanished, leaving a very satisfied looking kunoichi.

"That's great, Hinata!" Sakura cheered, shaking excited fists.

"Thanks! It still needs work, but I'm getting a lot better at it." Hinata had never before bragged about anything, but now that she and Naruto were together she was gaining a self confidence that Sakura thought the girl rightly deserved.

"Oh, and Ino?" Hinata's smile was coy, her eyes flicking over to Naruto briefly. The blonde woman looked at her expectantly. "I don't _need_ Oiroke no Jutsu." Naruto roared with laugher and hugged her close.

"That's right! You tell her!" Ino smirked and shook her head, the point obviously taken.

"So you'll be there around seven tonight, right?" Sakura asked her old teammate. Naruto grinned eagerly.

"I'd be there already if you guys would let me!" Ino rolled her eyes.

"I don't see why we had to tell him," she said, "birthday parties are suppose to be a surprise!"

"Yeah, but he'd snoop and find out anyway," Hinata shoved an elbow into her boyfriend's ribs, "at least this way we're prepared!"

"Alright then," Sakura walked away with Ino, casting a goodbye wave over her shoulder in a way similar to Naruto, "my place; seven o'clock!"

"Count on it!" Naruto replied and felt arms encircle his waist tightly. He turned his face down and saw the beautiful white eyes of his love gazing up at him.

"That's right, I nearly forget," she said and reached up with one hand, bringing his head down to hers; drawing him into a slow, deep kiss. He closed his eyes and sighed, her scent and the feel of her like a drug he couldn't resist. His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close; the fingers behind his head tangled into his long hair. He never got tired of this. She finally pulled her lips away, earning a remorseful moan from him, and smiled.

"Happy birthday, Naruto."

XXXX

Towards half passed six Naruto started to get anxious, Hinata doing her best to keep him from rushing off too early. She tried everything decent she could think of to keep him occupied but just twenty minutes later she was forced to submit to his pestering and the two left his apartment for Sakura's, Naruto humming all the way. Hinata laughed.

"You're acting like a kid!" She teased. Naruto turned her favorite smile on her and she was certain her knees would give out.

"This is going to the best birthday ever!" He said. "I know it!" Hinata scowled playfully.

"Did you go looking for your gifts again?" She asked in a mock-scold. Last year, in a rascal's effort to shake the veil of hurt from the group, Naruto had taken it upon himself to break into Lee's apartment, knowing that his birthday gifts were being hidden there. It wasn't that he wanted to know what he was getting; he just wanted to make his friends feel something other than loss. The tai jutsu master had almost taken off his head before realizing who the intruder was. Once seeing it was Naruto in his home, he had tried even harder.

It was the first time Naruto had seen Lee with any sort of spirit since Gai's death, and though the beating he'd taken had hurt like hell, Naruto would have done it again without thinking twice.

They finally arrived at their friend's first floor apartment. Sakura's door was decorated with handwritten signs like 'This Way to the Booze' and 'Old Fart Walking' taped to the door along with brightly colored streamers and crepe paper decorations. Naruto snorted a laugh at the second sign, recognizing Jiraiya's handwriting right away.

"He's one to talk!"

He opened the door, letting Hinata enter first - as Kakashi had taught him was the gentlemanly thing to do - and entered Sakura's living room; music and voices reverberating in the cozy apartment.

"And there his is!" Ino held two glasses high above her head and made her way to the new arrivals, passing each a drink. "The old fart himself!" A chorus of happy birthday shouts and whooping sounds rose up and Naruto plastered his biggest grin onto his face, soaking up the attention.

He spent the first half hour mingling, as Ino had called it. Tsunade had managed to stop by for a few minutes, but had been forced to leave due to a punishing schedule. Yet she had been able to play a few drinking games before leaving, winning a fair amount of money from Lee despite the man's reputation as the drunken master.

"Boys shouldn't play grown-up games," the older woman had told him haughtily and Shikamaru had almost choked on his drink when he saw Lee's face.

"Nineteen years old." Iruka came up after a while and clapped the blonde man on his back. "Was it really so long ago that you were my student?"

"Don't let it get you down, sensei," Naruto emphasized the title and Iruka groaned.

"I remember when an adult called me sensei for the first time." Jiraiya came up with another drink for the 'birthday-boy', making certain he drank it down completely. "It was your father and he, too, did it just for spite, although I remember hitting him for it."

Naruto laughed. It had taken him a while, but thinking of his father no longer hurt. In fact, Naruto was now getting to the point where he liked to hear about his father; what kind of man he had been and what sort of antics he had pulled. It helped Naruto feel connected to his father, and Jiraiya was the best place to go for information.

"Naruto, are you going to dive into that food or what?" Shikamaru taunted from the other side of the room and there were a few laughs and one groan that now no one else would get any. The groan sounded oddly like Neji, though Naruto could not imagine the man being so jovial.

"In a minute." The blonde man said. "First I gotta say something. That means everyone's gotta _shut up_!" He shouted loudly over the voices. The room quieted and someone turned the music down.

_Well this is a little scarier than I thought._ Naruto hooked an arm behind his neck, knowing that he'd better not screw this up. _Damn, why is saying the right thing so hard?_

"Okay, so we're all here, right?"

"We are, but I don't know about you!" That was definitely Neji. There was more laughter and then it stopped, the group allowing Naruto to speak.

"Okay, so first the toast, right? And since it's my birthday I claim the right to give it." Naruto raised his glass and the others followed. "This is to the missing pieces of our set. Even though they've left our sides, they'll never leave our hearts. Here's to the hope that they're here with us today, even if we can't see them."

Toasting to their lost comrades had become a tradition at any planned gathering, though in the entire fourteen months this was the first time Naruto had ever given it. Hinata smiled. It was simple, but he had insisted on finding the words himself and had agonized for weeks on it after deciding it was his turn to do the honors.

"Now, one more thing," Naruto grinned, setting his glass aside, "and then it's ramen time!"

"Get on with it already! It smells really good!" Chouji shouted.

"Shut it and I will!"

More laughter. It was great to see the kids happy again, Kakashi thought with a satisfied smile under his mask. Yeah, they were adults now, and every one of them a jounin, but that would never stop him from remembering them as that group of twelve and thirteen year old academy grads he had first known them as.

"Okay," Naruto nodded, "so, it's my birthday and I get a wish, right?"

"We can't make you any smarter, sorry!"

"And we can't take back that beating you got with the ugly stick!" Ino and Tenten were practically rolling with laughter and the blonde man sulked.

"Come on guys, keep it up and Chouji and I are gonna starve to death!" The teasing stopped and the two offenders smothered their laughter.

"So, it's time for my wish." Naruto scratched the back of his head out of old habit. "I've been thinking about this for a good long while, and I've decided that this wish is all I want for my birthday. Take back all the presents, all the food, everything. I don't care. All I want is for this one wish to come true."

_Are you watching, guys?_ Naruto asked his departed friends silently.

"Come on already!" Shikamaru moaned from his perch against the window. Naruto ignored him.

"I want Hyuuga Hinata to accept my offer and become my wife." Hinata could only stare as her lover watched her with those bright blue eyes. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she repeated the words in her head. Her eyes began to fill as the reality if his wish hit home. There was silence, then a few gasps when people began to realized that Naruto had just proposed marriage.

Naruto dropped to both knees before his love, taking one pale hand in his.

"I want to wake up to your face every day." He said. "I want to see you across the breakfast table every morning. I want to buy groceries together and furniture and all that other stuff married couples do. I want to have babies with you, Hinata."

Hinata pressed fingers flat against her mouth, and though he wasn't really paying attention he thought he heard someone whimper in the back of the room.

"I may not be the most upstanding guy in the village, or even the smartest, but I know that I love you. I love you and I swear that I'll make you happy. If it kills me, I'll see you happy and healthy and taken care for the rest of your life. Marry me, Hinata?" She took a shuddering breath wondering if her voice would work.

"That was, the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." Naruto's face split into a wide smile.

"So you will?" She nodded that demure little nod of hers and he lowered his head, peering at her from under heavy lashes, waiting for more. He wanted to hear that one word, she knew. The room was practically buzzing with anticipation, and she could have sworn it was all his. She squealed out a laugh.

"Yes!" And she threw herself at him, sending them both to the floor. Cheers and whistles erupted. Iruka was close to weeping, Jiraiya smiling quietly beside him. Ino smiled broadly, shaking Lee's arm in excitement while he laughed. Tenten was looking at her lover; a wistful smile on his face, and she took up his hand. And no one noticed when the white haired jounin closed his black eye to hide emotions he obviously didn't want to share.

Naruto lifted himself and Hinata off the floor, pressing her against his side tightly.

_Who'd have thought Naruto would be the first of us?_ Sakura thought. They had all thought Neji and Tenten would be first, but that was obviously not the case.

Her fingers grazed the hitai-ate on her arm; a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Lee though he didn't let on that he had seen. And after a moment of quiet reflection her face lit up brightly and she couldn't help herself.

"Shannaro!" She yelled loudly, pumping a fist high into the air and causing a few people to jump. _"Datta boy, Naruto!"_

Her friend - her best friend in the entire world - flashed his signature grin and then graced his friends with the honor of watching him kiss his new fiancée for the first time.

XXXX

There was a knock at the door and Hinata uncurled herself from the couch where she had been reading, stretching lazily. It had been a quiet evening and she had been relaxing, listening to the sounds of the rain before it had stopped. She set aside her book and answered the knock; Izumo blinked when she opened the door.

"Oh! Hinata!" The shinobi smiled pleasantly, though a bit confused, "I didn't know you were here." The Hyuuga smiled.

"Yeah, actually, I live here now." She revealed. Izumo's face must have been directly linked to his brain because Hinata giggled.

"Naruto and I agreed it was time," she said, "and I never wanted to be the Hyuuga heir, anyway. Father still has Hanabi and she's always wanted to take over. Father is still a bit upset with me, but Naruto had a talk with him and he hasn't pushed the issue since."

_A bit upset in Hyuuga terms means the man was probably breathing fire when Hinata moved out!_ Izumo tried not to shudder. _Naruto's got some cast iron balls to stand up to that guy!_

"Well, I suppose the important thing is that you're both happy, right?" Hinata nodded, and then Izumo remembered himself. "Is Naruto at home?" He asked.

"He's out picking up dinner. Finally, a night without ramen!" Izumo didn't smile at the joke and Hinata sobered. "Is this important? Would you like to come in and wait?"

"I have a message from the hokage that he's to report to her right away." Izumo said.

_A mission?_ Hinata wasn't surprised. Most of Naruto's missions came directly from the hokage now. Her intentions were getting more and more obvious, and Hinata wondered why she just didn't name Naruto her successor already.

"I understand. You don't have to wait here. If he returns before you find him I'll pass along the message." Hinata agreed. Izumo thanked her and left.

It wasn't more than fifteen minutes later when Naruto walked through the door, the smell of pork coming from the small white boxes in his hands and he kicked out of his shoes.

"Ayame saw me walk by with the take-out bag and yelled at me for being unfaithful to her establishment." He chuckled. Hinata smiled, but didn't join his laughter.

"Did Izumo find you?" Naruto shook his head.

"Nope." He didn't bother to ask why. There was only one reason Izumo would be looking for him.

"I'll try to keep this warm for you," she said, taking the bag from him so he could slip back into his shoes, "you've been summoned to Godaime's office."

This was familiar territory for them. Even before their engagement there had been many times when the hokage's messengers had sought Naruto out and interrupted a pleasant evening. But that was the life of a shinobi and the couple never once complained.

"If I'm not back in an hour go ahead and eat that without me. And don't wait up."

"I know." Sometimes Naruto left straight from the hokage's office for the mission. Hinata hated it when that happened, but she also understood. Some things just couldn't wait. "I love you."

"Love you back." He smiled for her, kissed her and left. Hinata didn't worry, though. Not really, at least. She didn't want him to get hurt and the thought of him injured or in pain gnawed at her. But his death was not a fear of hers anymore. Naruto had proven already that he was not a jounin to be trifled with. He would come back to her.

She had no doubt about that.

XXXX

"Naruto, come in." Tsunade didn't even need to wait for the knock at the door. She could feel that chakra as soon as he came in front of the building and knew how long it would take him before he reached her door. Naruto entered and seated himself before her desk without hesitation. Not many had the guts to make themselves comfortable in the hokage's office without invitation, but then Naruto was an exception to many rules.

"Is this to inform me that I'm up for hokage?" He chirped. He always started their meetings off that way. The two had grown closer over the years, mutual respect providing roots for the growth of their friendship. Yet Naruto only treated her so casually in private; conferring to her the respect her title demanded when others were around.

_One of these days I'm going to say yes and he's not going to know how to handle it._ She had often told herself. But she couldn't bring herself to such levity today.

"This is shit timing, Naruto, I know." She said seriously and the blonde man listened intently. "But I made you a promise and I'm going to keep it."

"Godaime?"

"We've found him, Naruto." She said, not one for beating around the bush. "Itachi. More to the point, he's found _you_."

"What?" Naruto cocked his head, not understanding what she meant. It was no mystery where Naruto was. Everyone who knew of the kyuubi knew that its host lived in Konoha. It was not a piece of information that was guarded, after all. At least not well guarded.

"It's been years, and we thought he'd given up." She sighed. "But I think last year's... events... rekindled that old desire."

"Yeah," Naruto shrugged, "and?" He was perfectly aware that Itachi had coveted the kyuubi for himself. He'd actually been waiting for the man to make a move. Then Sasuke would get his revenge, he had told himself. "So where is he?" Tsunade looked grim.

"Two nights ago Kusanagi was stolen from Sunagakure, Naruto." She said. "The attack was Akatsuki, or so the Kazekage believes." Naruto took a deep breath.

Orochimaru's abandoned sword had been sent to Sunagakure soon after the battle; Tsunade's effort to keep it and Naruto far apart and ensure his safety. The new Kazekage, Gaara, was their most trusted ally outside of the Land of Fire and had agreed to guard the sword, feeling a certain kinship to the blonde who was so like him. They were both vessels; guardians of a power that should never know freedom again.

"What makes you think it was Itachi, and that he's coming after me with it?" The man asked, his relaxed posture gone. He wasn't afraid, she knew, but he was also not stupid enough to believe that he had no cause for concern. Blue eyes flashed intelligently and she knew he was already planning ahead for a possible encounter.

"One of the Kusanagi's guards lived long enough to tell what he had witnessed." She reported. "He identified one of the two men as shark-like," _Hoshigaki Kisame_, Naruto guessed, "and said that as the invaders were leaving he heard two words from them though he couldn't make out the rest: 'kyuubi' and 'finally'."

Naruto was quiet. _There had been a survivor, huh?_

"Sounds like Itachi wants us to know what's going on." He said after a moment. Gondaime nodded. "I gotta ask why? What's this mean? I mean, other than the fact that I've gotta keep my eyes peeled? Because it sounds to me like it's time I got my team together and beat him to the punch."

That was precisely _not_ what she wanted to hear.

"No you won't." She ordered sternly and Naruto bristled. She knew of the team's plans. She knew they wanted to be the ones to bring in Sasuke's brother. They both knew his team was capable enough to be trusted with the mission. But Naruto knew Tsunade well enough to know that if she said no she had a damned good reason, so he kept his mouth shut.

"You need to listen right now." She went on. "What has me worried is that there is only one reason I can think of that would cause Itachi to bother with the Kusanagi." The jounin shrugged as though to say 'of course'.

"Yeah, he's out for the kyuubi and he can't get through to the demon without it. I'd never let him."

Naruto had that much right, she thought, but he was missing the most frightening part. She had expected this. Naruto just didn't think that way. It wasn't in his nature.

_He can be so naive._

"Naruto," she said, not knowing a gentler way of saying it, "I believe there is a traitor in your team. I think someone you care about has sold you out to Akatsuki."

XXXX

He was in a daze, his legs taking him home by reflex, not thought.

_It can't be possible,_ he thought, _she's gotta be wrong._

Their faces passed over his mind's eyes. Neji, who pretended not to care, though everyone knew he did. Ino, whose foul mouth disguised the kind heart beneath. Sakura, the one person other than Hinata who understood him; understood what it was like to love someone and hate them at the same time. They were each so different, but they were all so precious to him. He trusted them all. He'd put his life in each of their hands without a second thought. He'd die to keep them safe! There was no way any of them would betray him like that! They felt the same way, he just knew it.

_There has to be another explanation!_

But Tsunade did not worry without reason. Other than the hokage and the kazekage, who he also trusted without question or hesitation, the only people who knew of what the sword could do to the kyuubi's defenses were his best friends; the closest thing he'd ever had to a family. His brothers and sisters. His whole life.

They had all sworn their silence to the hokage, promising never to speak of the Kusanagi's advantage; not even among each other.

But now Itachi knew of what the sword could do.

So that meant someone he trusted had betrayed him.

_No, I don't believe it._

He couldn't think straight; thinking straight meant being logical, and logically what Tsunade had said would make sense if he considered it. But Naruto couldn't face the idea that someone he loved had betrayed him.

He was here, he realized.

The lights were on in their apartment, looking up to the third floor window. Hinata was still awake. She had said she wouldn't wait up, but it seemed she had. She never did like going to bed without him. She liked to use his shoulder as a pillow. She was probably hoping he'd be back soon.

But he couldn't go in. Not now, as he was. He was certain she'd take one look at him and tear up with worry. And he couldn't deal with that right now.

Though he could tell Hinata anything, right now he needed someone who wouldn't try to comfort him. He needed to see someone who would talk straight to him; who would help him wrap his mind around this. Maybe even find another answer.

_'I know it's hard, but you can't trust anyone right now, Naruto.'_ The woman's voice played in his thoughts.

But he didn't know how _not_ to trust them!

_What the hell does she expect me to do?!_

Naruto turned from his apartment building and walked away. His legs knew where to take him, even if his mind didn't.

XXXX

Kakashi snapped his little orange book shut and pulled on his mask, not caring that he was still in his pajamas. He was more concerned with who would come by at this hour. A mission, probably. Though it had slowed down since Orochimaru's death, the victory hadn't stopped the need for emergency S-ranked missions and late night call-ups.

He almost took a step back when he opened the door and saw Naruto standing there, pale as a ghost, his eyes wide and unnerving. The former student regarded his mentor; disoriented.

"Sensei..." he whispered and Kakashi jerked him inside, slamming the door behind him. He did a quick check for injuries, noting that Naruto looked like he had lost a lot of blood. His long blonde hair and feathery whiskers were dark against his bloodless face; his lips just as pale.

_Was he on a mission? Did it go wrong? Why did he not go to the hospital, or home?_

But as Kakashi turned the man before him around, pulling at his limbs and checking his vital signs he saw that there were no wounds, no dark stains on his clothes, and no signs of a struggle.

"What is it?" He asked, making the boy face him, disturbed by Naruto's current state. "Is it Hinata? Is that it?" Naruto's eyes drifted off to the side aimlessly and Kakashi gave his face a none-too-gentle slap, bringing his friend back to reality. "Naruto, I have to say that you're scaring the shit out of me right now." Naruto blinked at the strike, giving his head a little shake to clear it. He was finally able to form a complete thought.

"Gondaime..." the blonde said softly, his brows puckering slightly, "she thinks... she said... one of my friends is trying to kill me."

Kakashi's single black eye widened. He wanted to believe he hadn't heard that right, but his ears never lied to him. The elder pulled Naruto to the couch, forcing him to sit down. Kakashi said nothing, but went into the kitchen and came back with a paper cup and the first bottle of liquor he could find in the cabinets. He had to calm Naruto down before he'd be able to get a clear answer from the young shinobi and this was the fastest way he could think of.

"Drink it," he thrust the cup into Naruto's hands and the jounin obeyed, though Kakashi had to reach out and steady his hands as he lifted the cup to his lips.

He could tell that Naruto wasn't scared. He wasn't even really upset. It was like his mind had shut down; like he couldn't handle what he had been thinking. He looked to be suffering from shock. Kakashi had never seen him in such a state before. Not even last year in that clearing, after he had sent his father and then his friend to their graves.

Not even when Sasuke had defected to Orochimaru; though in truth they had suspected the Uchiha would do it anyway. His thirst for vengeance had been too great to resist the madman's offer. But Sasuke had not had any desire to hurt his friends; only to kill his treacherous brother.

Kakashi couldn't fathom why any of the others would have a reason to want Naruto dead. He couldn't even pick one of them out that would be the most likely candidate.

It was all entirely too surreal.

_Kami, what did you hear, Naruto? What did she find out?_

He thought of sending word to Hinata to tell her where her fiance was, but then pushed the idea away. Naruto had come here. He'd not gone home. That probably meant he wasn't ready to see her, for whatever reason.

The whirling in the blonde's eyes died down after a little while and Kakashi took a seat on the coffee table before him. He took the paper cup from his friend and set it aside, noting that the man's hands had stopped shaking.

"Now," Kakashi said quietly, crystal blue eyes rising to meet his, "tell me everything."

XXXX

**A/N**

And so the sequel to "The Strength of Twelve" has officially begun. I really had started work on a new story, but lying in bed one night the idea hit me - thwap! - and I just knew I had to come back to this one. So I guess I wasn't as finished as I thought!

I'm trying to incorporate all the good advice I got during my last story, (length, pace, etc.) so we'll see if I can't make this one better than the last. Be sure to tell me if I'm rushing through it though, because sometimes I really can't tell. Guess that comes with practice, huh? And I don't know if these chapters will come as quickly as the first story's because I made a promise to have a SasxSaku story out and I intend on keeping it (Apologies to those who are waiting for that story. This one is monopolizing most of my thoughts at the moment, but the S&S story has been started!).

Please let me know what you think! I practically obsess over reviews! (Come on, don't make me beg. It's really not a pretty sight...) XD Thanks everyone!


	2. In Pursuit of Him

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any rights to it. Also I did borrow one line from Episode 19 of the English-translation anime, but I claim no rights or creative influence on that line, nor do I intend to profit from it.

Chapter Two: In Pursuit of Him

XXXX

The sky outside of the thin paper shades had begun to glow a faint pink, and the sounds of the waking village stirred from beyond the open pane of glass. He realized it was morning already, and wondered how many hours he had been sitting like this. Long, slender fingers combed through a mass of silver hair and Kakashi returned his attention to the man in his apartment.

_He still looks like shit,_ he regarded his young friend's hunched posture. Of course he was not without understanding. Had it been Rin or Obito-

He shuddered. It was impossible for him to imagine those two turning against him. It simply would never have happened.

And that was why Kakashi was so patient with Naruto right now; because Naruto was thinking the exact same thing. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. And yet Gondaime would not have said such a thing had she not been absolutely certain it was the truth.

It had taken forever, but Kakashi had managed to draw the details of the meeting from him. Tsunade's words made sense, and Kakashi found it difficult to argue the woman's logic. It had not helped Naruto to tell his story, but at least Kakashi knew now why the kid had shown up on his doorstep. He didn't want to be comforted. He wanted to make sense of it all. But until he could come to terms with the situation it wouldn't happen.

The two men hadn't spoken for a while. Naruto was face-down in the palms of his hands, breathing slowly. Feeling it was best not to push his friend just yet Kakashi said nothing and was simply waiting.

"Tell me what to do, sensei," the young man said at last through his palms, "because I don't know what to do anymore."

_Oh no you don't. You're better than this!_

"I can't do that, Naruto," he said, "this isn't something I can fix."

"So that's it?" Blue eyes overwhelmed with desperation tore at Kakashi. "If I don't do something, and there is a traitor, I'm dead, and the kyuubi is as good as free in Itachi's hands. Gondaime says I can't trust any of them anymore. Not even Sakura! Do I just obey her? Just walk away from them, like they never were a part of me? And what about you, and Jiraiya, and Iruka? You guys were there, too! Do I toss you aside also?"

"Is that what you want?"

Naruto's head thrashed from side to side; his fists balled until his knuckles turned white.

"I don't want any of this!" He shouted. "I don't want this to be happening! I can't do this! I can't just walk away from them! This is who I am!"

Kakashi knew exactly what Naruto meant. When he was young he had been the same way. He could picture his younger self sitting there, just as Naruto was, crying out those same words. But Kakashi had never known this dilemma. Instead he had suffered his great loss and then closed that selfless part of himself away. Years went by and Hatake Kakashi had made it known that he needed no one. It had taken three amazing genin to reopen that lost part of him once more, and he hadn't even known it was happening.

Not until they lost Sasuke that first time.

"You live for those you love." Kakashi acknowledged.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted. "I do! So tell me how I am supposed to do this! How am I supposed to go against everything I am?" His sensei shook his head.

"You can't. To go against yourself is to fight a losing battle." Naruto groaned.

"So what do I do?"

"I can't answer that question, Naruto," Kakashi repeated, "only you can. Only you can know what the next step will be."

"But I don't!" Kakashi leaned forward over his knees and towards the man before him, his one dark eye trained intensely on his friend.

"I think you do." Naruto returned his face to his hands and Kakashi waited again. He would not let Naruto surrender control over his life; not the one that had, without even knowing it, helped Kakashi to gain control over his own.

_'From now on I'm finding my own ninja way; a way that's straight and true and without any regrets!'_

Had it really been so many years since a boy of twelve had come to such an amazing decision? Against his teachings, his experiences, and even the words Kakashi himself had said back then, Naruto had declared his greatest strength without even knowing it. And he had held true to 'The Way of Naruto' ever since.

_He can't give it up now!_

"I _know_ you do." Kakashi insisted.

His voice was soft, but the conviction behind the statement drew Naruto out. Wide eyes met his as Kakashi watched and waited. Naruto shook his head slowly, his eyes drifting off absently and he was quiet for a moment. His lips parted, ready to let lose another protest; but then he just stopped. His head tilted so slightly it had barely registered with the older man. Barely. Kakashi knew with rising hope; Naruto wasn't lost anymore.

He was fighting for his ninja way. Another shake of his head.

"I won't give them up." The blonde announced at last. "I refuse." _Now_ it was time to push him.

"And if there is a traitor, as Tsunade believes there to be?" Kakashi asked. Naruto grit his teeth.

"If there is a traitor I'll deal with it when the time comes. But I won't abandon them, or my beliefs, just because of that. Gondaime can skin me alive if she wants, but I won't do it." His resolve was getting stronger, the color was coming back to his face; the fire to his eyes. "I'm taking my team and I'm going after Itachi and if the hokage wants to stop me she's gonna have to kill me. I know she thinks she's protecting me and the demon, but she's not. Not in my opinion. I gotta do this my way; and my way is to protect this village; even it that means I protect it from me."

"Think carefully, Naruto," Kakashi would not relent; not until he was certain that Naruto was again himself. "Itachi has the sword. Your advantage over him is now gone." But the blonde's eyes narrowed and when that determined glint returned Kakashi almost smiled.

"I've got my friends." Naruto growled. "They're all the advantage I've ever needed." Now Kakashi did smile. Raising to his feet the silver-haired man gazed down at his friend.

_This kid..._

"When do we leave, leader?"

XXXX

"What do you mean, 'it's time'?" Sakura's fist held tight to her nightshirt, holding it closed. It was not even five in the morning yet and the kunoichi had been seriously pissed when she was roused from bed by a loud banging at her door. Naruto had stood on the other side of the entrance, a raised fist interrupted from its constant beating against the wood when Sakura swung the door open. Had it not been for the fact that Naruto had that look in his eyes she would have pummeled him on sight.

But Naruto _did_ have that look, and Sakura had learned to bite her tongue during those occasions.

"Itachi is on the move." The blonde replied. "He's coming for the kyuubi." His friend's eyes opened wide; he had her full attention now. "I'm not gonna sit here and wait for him. I'm gonna go find him before he finds me. Kakashi's spreading the word to the others. If you still want in you'd better get ready."

It was time to make good on their promise.

"Give me ten minutes." She said. Naruto turned to leave; to gather the others, she knew.

"My place." He relayed and disappeared down the outer hallway.

Sakura closed the door quietly.

_Sasuke's revenge..._ She had been anticipating it for so long. But now... now that it was really happening, Sakura couldn't bring herself to care.

_There are more important reasons to do this than revenge._

She decided it was time to take the fastest shower of her life.

XXXX

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin, her Byakugan instinctively peering to the apartment door from her place in bed. Lee was there, knocking on the front door. Another figure came up the hallway. Shikamaru; and he did _not_ look pleased.

"What is going on?" Hinata mumbled and yanked on one of Naruto's T-shirts and her pajama bottoms. "I'm coming!" She shouted and hurried to the door, pushing disheveled hair from her face. She released the locks and Lee, noticing her appearance, cast nervous eyes away immediately.

"Forgive me!" He stuttered. "But Kakashi told me to come here without delay. Had I known-"

"Is Naruto alright?" Hinata's hand clutched at her throat and Shikamaru entered the apartment, pushing passed Lee.

"Yeah, he's fine." He reported. "I just saw him, and he told me to get over here, too." Hinata closed her eyes and sighed with relief. With a little shake of her head she held the door open wider, signaling Lee to enter.

"You will be coming as well, I trust." Lee said, trying his best not too look anywhere but at her eyes. Hinata frowned.

"Coming where?" She crouched down, picking up the lamp she had knocked over during her rush to the door.

"After Itachi, of course." He answered. "I could not imagine that you would remain behind while that man is hunting Naruto." Hinata whirled, the lamp slipping from her fingers; forgotten.

_"What?!"_

XXXX

It had only taken fourteen minutes from the first arrival to the last. Hinata had been brought up to speed by Lee and then by Naruto once he had arrived. Naruto had left out the part about the traitor, though, saying only that he had stopped by Kakashi's first. It was not a lie, though it felt like one to him. But Kakashi had suggested that the news of a possible traitor be left unmentioned for the time being. The last thing the team needed was to let suspicion tear them apart.

If there _was_ a traitor, let them believe they were still a secret. Let them feel safe. Kakashi would be watching carefully, even if Naruto did not.

"I'll try to make this quick." Naruto said at last. "Itachi is after me. He wants kyuubi. Fine. Let him come. I've been waitin' for him anyway." Naruto brandished a fist and the silver-haired jounin felt it best to get on with things quickly.

"There is just one problem." Kakashi spoke up from his usual stance against a wall.

"Other than the fact that fucking Uchiha Itachi wants Naruto dead?" Ino demanded.

"Yeah, besides that," Naruto said derisively, "he's got Kusanagi."

There was a heartbeat of silence through the group.

"What?" Sakura's voice broke free and nearly pierced their eardrums. "How the hell-"

"I don't know how he found out." Naruto cut in, not wanting her to finish the question. Then the lie would feel more real. "But it looks like he did. And as far as I'm concerned all that means is that I can bleed when I'm me and I can bleed when I'm the kyuubi. Period."

"It means a lot more than that, Naruto," Neji pointed out. "If he found out about the sword what else does he know?"

"Could he have found a way of transferring the demon over to himself?" Chouji asked. "I mean, I thought your dad took that knowledge with him when he died."

"I don't intend on letting Itachi live long enough to find that out." Naruto replied. Murmurs were rising, spoken thoughts on preparation and the best way to find their prey.

"You need to know something before any of you commit to joining us," Kakashi said above the voices. "This mission hasn't been approved by the hokage. In fact, she expressly forbade Naruto from going after Itachi."

"You said there was just _one_ problem!" Chouji blurted.

"You are going against Gondaime's orders?" Lee demanded, his round eyes bulging.

"She could name you a missing-nin for this, Naruto!" Tenten cried out. "You could lose everything; your chance at becoming hokage, your freaking life!"

"Do you have a death wish, Uzumaki?" Neji grated, anger barely contained.

"I gotta take this chance!" Naruto argued. "What if he found a way to release the kyuubi without coming anywhere near me, or if he gets lucky when he does find me? What if I'm in the village when the seal is broken? Everyone here will die! I gotta be away from here if that happens." Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself a little.

"He took the sword three days ago." He explained. "That means he's still in the Land of Wind. If I leave now I can make sure I'm far enough away from Konoha to protect it from the kyuubi. I can't sit here and wonder 'what if' and keep looking over my shoulder. I'm gonna go out and fight to keep this bastard thing where it belongs: inside _me_!"

"I can't ask any of you to join me, I know that." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Anyone who comes is gonna find themselves in the same boat as me. All I can do is say that I'm going, and anyone who wants to come with me is welcome."

"I'm going with you." Hinata's reply was almost instantaneous. She rose to stand beside her fiancé, an arm wrapped around his waist, white eyes combing over their friends.

"I'm going." Sakura stepped out of the crowd. "But not for the reason that I originally planned. I've realized that Sasuke doesn't need revenge anymore. He's at peace now. But you're going to need help, Naruto." Her green eyes fixed on his. "We made a promise to each other years ago. I don't intend on breaking it now." She took her place beside him, glancing around hopefully.

"Your reasons are noble, Naruto. Gai-sensei would have joined you were he still alive." Lee said, moving to stand beside Sakura. "As his disciple, and as your friend, I shall accompany you." The cherry blossom flashed him a grateful smile.

"Aw, shit," Ino moaned. "I've got to be some kind of masochist to stay friends with a group like this. Fuck it. I'm going." But the sardonic smile that tugged the corner of her mouth told Naruto that she wasn't as reluctant as she let on.

"Shikamaru..." Chouji jerked his chin towards the ever-forming group.

"What?"

"You know you're going too." Chouji replied. Shikamaru groaned and pushed from the window.

"Fine. I really didn't want to be here anyway when Tsunade finds out Naruto bolted. She'll just go ape shit on anyone who's left." Chouji smiled brightly.

"We're in!" It almost seemed as though the guy was signing up for a friendly gambling game.

"We're _all_ in." Tenten spoke up, and Neji nodded. "You really didn't think we'd let you go through this alone, did you?" Naruto grinned.

"Not for a second."

XXXX

They agreed to wait until nightfall, and to meet at a designated area that was well outside of the village. Traveling together and in broad daylight was begging to bring Gondaime down on them.

Sakura realized that this could be her last chance to walk the streets of Konoha freely. After this there was a high probability that they would be considered missing-nin. Traitors in their own right. The thought didn't bother as much as it should. Maybe it was because everyone she cared for was coming along. Maybe it was because she knew what they were doing was the right thing.

_Maybe I'm just insane._

Either way, this was probably her last day in the place of her birth; the place she had called home all of her life. With that in mind she decided that there was something she had to do before they left.

XXXX

The graveyard wasn't as deserted as she had thought as she passed through the gates. Someone else was there, standing close to Sasuke's grave.

Standing _before_ Sasuke's grave.

Lee.

She should have known. No one outside of their diminished group visited Sasuke's grave. They were all the Uchiha had during his last years on earth.

"I knew you would come here eventually." He said as she approached. She granted him a small smile and then templed her hands and bowed before the marker. Lee followed her example. For a long stretch of time both were quiet, lost in silent communication with their friend.

She had come here to pray with Naruto many times before. It felt right to stand before Sasuke's grave with a friend. Maybe Sasuke would know from wherever he was that he would never be alone. Not really.

"Lee?" Sakura spoke softly, her hands still formed in prayer. "What are you saying to Sasuke?" She never had to ask Naruto. She could see it on his face every time he prayed; her heart aching as she silently shared in his pain.

Lee cast a small smile at her, barely turning his head.

"I believe it is something that I should only share with Sasuke for the time." He said finally.

"Oh." Sakura returned to her prayer. There was another stretch of silence between the two, the birds around them the only sound. "I'm saying goodbye." She revealed at last.

"Did you not already say that?" Lee asked. Sakura shook her head.

"I'm saying goodbye to his memory. I think he would understand. I need to live again. I can't do that if I hold onto his memory so tightly. So I'm saying goodbye to him; to the future we could have had together."

"I see." Lee replied and the two returned to their prayers.

"Sakura?"

"Hmm?"

"I believe Sasuke would not mind if I shared my prayer with you."

"Oh?" She turned. "So what did you say?" Lee bowed again and then met her gaze.

"I told him that he had been a very fortunate man, even if he had never comprehended it. He had possessed everything; great skill; abilities I could have only dreamt of; the admiration of his peers and the love of a wonderful girl. I admitted to him that for a long time I had been envious. There were times when I even resented him for his inability to appreciate what he had. But Sasuke had been a good man, despite his blindness to his own fortune, and I consider it an honor to have been his friend. I then pleaded for his blessing, and for his understanding, in what I am about to do."

"And what's that?"

Lee took Sakura's chin between two fingers, gently pulling her lips into a kiss. For a moment all Sakura could do was stand there, her hands slowly dropping to her sides. But Lee did not push her for more. He did not try to pull her into an embrace. He simply held her chin there, lightly enough that if she chose, she could pull away.

But she didn't.

It took a few seconds, but she finally moved closer, her hands pressing into his shoulder blades. Only then did he take her into his arms. Yet the kiss did not intensify. Lee simply held her there, kissing her, marveling at the sensations of it. He felt a puff of air against his cheek when Sakura sighed deeply. A few more seconds of soft lips and breathing in her scent and then Lee released her lips.

"Out of respect for Sasuke and for you, I have restrained myself for sometime." He admitted into her hair. "Yet the future is uncertain for us, and there is no guarantee I will have another opportunity to express my feelings for you after today. I will now follow Naruto's example, and leave no regrets in my wake."

Sakura's forehead rested against the hollow of his throat and he sighed, content. Her fingers trailed lazy patterns against his back and he believed he could spend eternity just as he was now.

"Lee," her voice was thick against his skin, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I never gave you a chance before." His chin mussed her hair when he shook his head.

"You could not go against your heart, Sakura." He said, and her hands pressed into his back, pulling her against him tightly.

"You've loved me for so long and I just cast you aside." She whispered. "I don't deserve you, Lee."

"You do not have the right to say that," Lee said with a gentle force, tilting her had back so that she was looking into his eyes, "all you can say is that you reject me or that you accept me. But you have no say in whom I deem worthy enough to give my heart to."

"And I'm still worthy?" She whispered. He nodded, tracing a finger along the side of her face reverently.

"You have had my heart for so long, Sakura, that I believe it is now more a part of you than it is of me." Green eyes glistened and she smiled.

"I accept you, Lee." She said. "And if we live through this I promise that I will do my best to make up for those lost years." Lee's smile matched hers.

"I could not ask for anything more." He said.

The breeze ruffled the long grass softly, the tall prayer sticks behind Sasuke's marker casting shadows from the bright sunlight. And in the shadow of the marker itself, its blue ties folded neatly beneath shining metal, was a hitai-ate; lovingly placed by a pink-haired woman who had taken the band from her arm.

A symbol that she was finally moving on.

XXXX

Tsunade had not heard from Naruto since giving him the news last night and that disturbed her. It was not unusual for Naruto to go days without communicating; weeks sometimes, if he was on a mission.

But the way he had stumbled from her office looking pale and lost had alarmed her, and she had fought the desire to go after him. He needed time to think, she had told herself. This was a lot to deal with, and having someone breathing down his neck was not going to help him come to terms any quicker. But as the hours ticked by she wondered if her parting orders for him to remain in daily contact had fallen on deaf ears.

After night had fallen, and still no word from Naruto had come, she finally broke down and sent Izumo to check on her one-day-successor.

"He doesn't need to come in." She had said. "I only want you to look in on him and see how he is doing."

Izumo, having no knowledge of what had transpired between the hokage and the jounin, thought the order a little odd but had complied none-the-less. Tsunade waited impatiently, trying her best to concentrate on the stacks of reports before her. She had banned Shizune from her office; unable to brood properly with that woman trying to help occupy her mind.

Minutes ticked by into an hour. One hour stretched into two. Tsunade's guts tightened in her abdomen.

_Naruto..._

Izumo returned finally, slightly bewildered.

"Well?" She nearly bit the man's head off in anticipation.

"I can't find him, Lady Hokage. It seems as though he's left the village." He reported. She hissed an obscenity.

"Did you ask Hinata?"

"She is gone as well." Izumo tried not to shrink under the woman's icy glare. Tsunade pounded a fist into her desk, wood splintering and cracking under her knuckles.

"What about his friends," she huffed, "did you check with them?"

"I tried, Lady Hokage, but I couldn't find any of them; Kakashi included. Iruka became alarmed when I questioned him. He had no idea that Naruto was planning to leave. Together he and I searched the village, but it seems each and every one of them are gone from Konoha." Izumo shied away when Tsunade stared silently at her desk.

"Lady Hokage?" The man said tentatively.

"Get out." She growled, not looking up from her ruined desk. "Not one word of this to anyone, Izumo." She added as an afterthought. Footsteps hissed on hardwood floors and Izumo excused himself before she could change her mind. She was terrifying like this in his opinion; far more then when she was volatile.

_Naruto, what have you done now?_ He thought, shivering at whatever fate awaited the favored jounin.

Tsunade sat stone-still at her desk. She should be calling up the ANBU right now. She should be raising an alert.

_Ten missing-nin. Ten! And not any ordinary shinobi, but the ones who had brought Orochimaru to his knees! Konoha will be thrown into chaos when this gets out!_

He had taken the team. Knowing full well that one of them probably wanted him dead he had gathered them up anyway. He had gone against her orders. He had knowingly risked his future, of that she had no doubt.

But the real reason she was hesitating was not why he had disobeyed her.

_They followed him._

Though one among the team was probably a traitor - possibly more than one if Naruto was truly unlucky - the idea that the entire group had turned villain was unlikely to the extreme. Most of his friends were still honorable, she believed that without hesitation.

And they had followed, knowing full well that there was no mission - Naruto would never lie about that, she knew - and knowing that this was something that would likely bring about the end of them. They could be marked forever. Criminals. Yet those precious ones who could be trusted had followed him into his fight anyway.

As a shinobi, Tsunade's heart filled with a pride in her subordinates, who were displaying a courage and honor she couldn't help but admire. They were worthy of the title Konoha's Shinobi.

Yet as hokage, Tsunade also knew she had a duty to fulfill, and to ignore it was to go against the very purpose of her title.

Naruto's charge could not fall into Itachi's hands. She had to make certain of this. It was her duty to her village, to her people, to see to it that this never happened, no matter what.

_I should have seen this coming._ She cursed to herself. _I should have known!_ She cursed him for forcing her to do what must be done.

"Shizune!" She roared loudly and in only seconds the door to her office was flinging open wildly, the dark-haired woman at the ready for whatever Tsunade needed of her.

"Call up the ANBU," Gondaime ordered and her apprentice's face filled with surprise. Tsunade ignored Shizune's reaction. At least the woman had the presence of mind to bow in an attempt to his her shock.

"Gondaime?" Yet the woman's voice was calm and smooth, as though she were taking the hokage's order for dinner.

"Call them up now, all of them." Tsunade repeated, her heart pounding in her chest. "They have a mission awaiting them."

Shizune left to carry out her orders, leaving Tsunade to mull over her decision.

_Naruto, you selfless, selfish idiot!_ She didn't know how to feel. It was all too much.

Never would she have imagined that one day she'd be sending out the ANBU in pursuit of _him_.

XXXX

**A/N**

Chapter 2 Complete!

You know with every new chapter I write I have more and more fun doing it. And I really like opening my reviews up and reading the "screams" and "shouts" from my readers. It gives me a sense of accomplishment, knowing that I'm exciting someone like that. So thanks to all of you who blaze into my review board in high-gear and blow up my computer monitor!

But more importantly, thanks to all of you who leave constructive criticism or comments. You are the ones who are helping me to grow as a writer, and I really appreciate that. With your help I hope to be able to make my readers' heads explode! (Figuratively, of course!)

Thanks everyone! Please keep those reviews and ratings coming!


	3. The Warning

Disclaimer: You know the drill... I just wrote this story.

Chapter Three: The Warning

XXXX

He was in that place again.

That place with concrete walls and cavernous hallways. Conduits ran haphazardly overhead; the stale, shallow water at his feet running under those doors. Those doors.

Those HUGE cage doors. Its bars were too thin, so that what it held within should have been able to escape easily, were this the real world.

But this wasn't the real world. The bars were fortified by a single thin piece of paper; a seal.

And in this world, that was all it took.

The eyes opened within, as they always did when he walked up to the doors. But Naruto wasn't afraid. He'd been here many times before. He knew how close was too close. And when the smile gleamed through the blackness with a bite big enough to swallow a house, he still wasn't afraid. The thing's red aura seemed to emanate from that cage, filling the halls with a crimson glow, the unseen light source defining the demon's massive silhouette from behind.

Though this had never happened before, Naruto still wasn't worried. The kyuubi's power was still held tightly behind those sealed bars; he could feel it.

"You've come back, little one." The voice from inside the cage rumbled. Naruto tilted his head.

_Why DID I come here?_ He usually came here during a fight, or during a time of intense emotional strain, when he needed to confront the thing inside and demand that it 'pay up'. The red fog would then seep through the bars, filling him with the power he demanded.

_But there's no fight going on right now,_ he frowned, _right?_ And other than being slightly bewildered he felt no overwhelming emotion, either.

"Hey, you," his tone was insolent, heated, as it always was when he addressed the demon, "what the hell's the big idea? You're not supposed to be able to call me here! Not anymore." The kyuubi rumbled again, a sound Naruto recognized as laughter.

"What makes you think I called you here?"

_Oh, so now he thinks this is funny!_ Naruto fumed.

"Well I ain't here because I want to be!" He shouted. "So spill it! What's the deal?"

"I didn't call you here, boy." The beast replied. Naruto startled; uneasy. The demon didn't lie to him. Experience told him that the kyuubi had no reason to lie. He had always found the truth to be a great deal more entertaining.

_What the hell is going on?_

A draft at the back of his neck disturbed his hair. No, not a draft. It was warm and concentrated, as though whatever caused it...

Someone was behind him.

"Hey..." the voice was soft in his ear and Naruto spun around.

Black eyes. Black hair.

"...go..." the breath of the word brushed the whiskers on his cheek.

"Sasuke!" Naruto fell backward, towards those bars.

"What?"

He blinked. Sakura sat beside him, looking down at him curiously, Lee beside her lost in sleep. Hinata was tucked into the crook of Naruto's arm breathing softly. The fire beyond crackled softly, the shadows it threw off danced against the boughs above. Naruto let out a shuddering breath, the reality of the dream replaced by his current situation. He was still in the forest.

A nightmare.

"Are you alright?" Sakura watched him. Naruto ran a hand down his face.

"Weird dream." He mumbled. But she didn't stop watching him.

"You said his name." She revealed. "Actually, you kind of shouted it. I'm surprised you didn't wake everyone."

He wasn't surprised, though. Two days of hard traveling had left the team spent. Naruto had set a grueling pace, necessary to avoid the recovery team Tsunade would undoubtedly send after them. They had zigzagged through the forest, backtracking occasionally, if only to throw their pursuers off. After two days even Kakashi had been close to the breaking point and willingly consented when Naruto declared they would be resting for a few hours.

"Sorry." Naruto mumbled to his friend, adjusting the head that rested on his shoulder. She shrugged as if to say 'no problem'.

"I thought you had stopped having those nightmares." Sakura said. She had known about the dreams he had been plagued with soon after Sasuke's death; dreams of blood and yellow eyes and screams torn from the throat of their friend. A clearing torn into the forest; blue eyes, as hollow as their master. And lastly the crushing grief that always came when the last of the blood and sand had been spilled.

He had told Sakura when the dreams had started, and then again when they finally stopped, just over six months ago. Though she had not actually witnessed the final battle she knew that whatever had happened must have been terrible to give her friend such nightmares. That no one who had been there would speak of that day in any greater detail reinforced her belief.

"This dream wasn't like the others." Naruto said. "We were standing in front of the kyuubi's prison. And he wasn't hurt or dying. He was just... there."

"But you screamed." She frowned. "It sure sounded like you were scared." Naruto shook his head, blonde hairs tickling Hinata's face and she brushed fingers against her nose sleepily.

"It just seemed so real." He smirked. "Then again, that's what everyone says about freaky dreams." They shared a little smile.

"Did you sleep?" Sakura nodded, pointing her chin at Shikamaru who was currently sprawled on his back, snoring softly.

"I just took the watch from him, maybe twenty minutes ago." She reported. He extracted himself from Hinata's embrace, sliding her head to his leg.

"Go get some more," he told his best friend, "I got it from here." Sakura didn't argue. Naruto's stamina was at a higher level than hers and she would need the rest more. She curled herself against Lee's slumbering figure and was lost to the world minutes later.

_I couldn't sleep right now if I tried._ The blonde jounin grumbled to himself. This was going to be a long night.

XXXX

_'What the hell did you do?"_ Her door slammed open with all of the delicacy of a hurricane. Tsunade startled, though only a little. No one had dared to invite themselves into her home for as long as she could remember, let alone with such blatant disrespect. She vaguely wondered what he had done with the attendants that had been standing outside.

_Took him long enough to come here._

"I did what had to be done." She replied coolly and pulled herself from her sake cup, raising tired eyes to her former teammate. She'd been thinking on it since that night. In fact it had haunted her to such a degree that the only thing she could think to help was her old friend: booze. And so here she was again, full circle, bleary eyed and cup-in-hand.

"You sent the ANBU after him!" The incensed man pounded his hand on her table, spilling over the bottle of liquor. "You betrayed him, Tsunade!"

"I did what had to be done!" She shouted. "Do you even know the entire story? Did you bother to get all of the facts before storming in here like a one-man crack squad? No, I bet you didn't! That's the difference between you and me, Jiraiya! I know when to stop thinking with my heart and start thinking with my head!"

"You _never_ think with your heart! You'd need to have one to be able to think with it!" He shouted and earned a sharp blow to the face for it. He felt the bone in his cheek crack, but betrayed no hint of the pain; his anger keeping him grounded.

"You have no right." She seethed from her chair. "I care about that boy more than you will ever know. But I have a responsibility as hokage. I don't expect you to understand that."

He deserved that. He could never be hokage, though he was certainly skilled enough and had the experience. But Jiraiya had always lacked the discipline required of the position. It had come as a surprise when Naruto had surpassed him in that aspect, and earned Gondaime's plans to name him as her successor.

But then, Naruto had always been far more determined than he, Jiraiya knew, and far more reliable.

"Have you marked them yet?" He had stopped shouting, but was no less belligerent. She sighed at his question. Normally such an inquiry would have earned him a few more broken bones and a free trip to the ICU, but now the question had merit.

"No," she said.

"Neither?" She understood: assassination or treason; the two marks that signaled the end of a shinobi's existence. It was understood by all that the second mark was never given without being closely followed by the former. Either one meant Naruto's death, and the deaths of all those with him.

"No," she repeated.

"Will you?"

"Kami, Jiraiya-" she shouted angrily, intent on lighting into him for his badgering, her fist raised. Strong fingers wrapped around her arm, stopping the blows that were to follow.

"You're not the only one who cares you know!" He announced and her struggles stopped. "I only ask because technically _that's_ your duty, too, or did you conveniently forget that? Because I promise you that the ANBU haven't!" Jiraiya released her and spun on his heel for the doorway.

"Where the hell are you going?" She already knew. He paused by the door frame, though he did not look back at her.

"When and if you decide to mark them," he said, "you may as well add my name to the list too. I'd rather die by his side that at his back." And then the enraged man was gone and Tsunade let her head fall backward, avoiding the burn in her eyes and the desire to beat the man to a bloody pulp.

"Fuck." She pounded her head against the backrest of her chair in impotent anger.

_You never even asked..._

"Jiraiya!" She called out, hoping he was not too far away. No answer.

_I'm gonna fucking kill 'em..._

XXXX

The trees were thinning out. It was gradual, nothing really noticeable by sight. But it took a little more effort to make it to the next branch, the tree trunks spaced apart a little more from the last. They were coming to the edge of their home.

Light feet touched boughs with almost no sound as ten shinobi darted through the forest canopy, the blonde man at the fore of the group. Yet his progress was being carefully watched and when Naruto blinked and shook his head Hinata's concern grew. He hadn't been sleeping lately.

In truth _no one_ had been sleeping well these passed five days, though at least they had gotten some rest. But ever time Naruto brought the team down for a few hours he had been unable to sleep at all, nightmares filling his mind as soon as he drifted off.

Hinata removed her transmitter and fell back in the ranks until she ran beside Kakashi. With a silent motion she gestured for him to take off his transmitter, and he complied.

"I'm worried about Naruto." She said softly, her eyes trained forward, watching for some sign that her lover had heard. "The nightmares are getting worse. He wakes up shaking, crying out Sasuke's name. I have a bad feeling. This isn't normal."

"I agree," Kakashi leapt easily to a higher branch and the Hyuuga followed. Kakashi had the distinct feeling that Naruto was under attack, yet there was no sign of an aggressor anywhere near them.

"Could it be him?" Hinata watched as Naruto made a particularly longer jump, his footing secure. "Itachi?"

"I don't know." It was the truth, but Kakashi had a far more troubling worry. What if Tsunade's theory about a traitor was true and this was an act of aggression from within?

"What do we-" Naruto raised a hand, halting the team. Kakashi and Hinata replaced their transmitters, awaiting instructions.

There was a tremor in the ground beneath them; the vibration traveling up the trunks until it was barely noticeable. Yet Naruto had felt it. Kakashi looked up sharply, fully alert, the others not far behind. No one had missed it.

Another tremor, and then another; each one was stronger than the last and coming in quick succession.

"What the hell..." Ino barely breathed. Naruto was already tuning in to the origins of the vibrations. There was a scent in the air; so well-known to him he didn't even have to consider what it might be.

_Shit._

"Jiraiya," he whispered, recognizing the faint musk of a summoned toad, his earlier weariness forgotten. They'd never outrun a Gama family toad, he realized, not now. No matter how fast you were, if you felt them coming it was already too late. _Gamakichi,_ he guessed his tutor's mount absently, _or maybe Gama?_

"Wait, Jiraiya?" Chouji seemed hopeful. "That's good, right? He helped you guys out last time. So maybe he's come to help again?"

"Maybe." Naruto alighted on the forest floor, his team at his back. There was no point in staying in the trees. They'd find no advantage up there.

And Chouji's thoughts certainly seemed to match the sennin's style; to run off against orders and help a friend in need. That was part of the reason Naruto was able to look passed his friend's perversions and admire the man within. Jiraiya had told him once when he was younger, and while Jiraiya had been quite drunk, that the blonde boy reminded the sennin of his younger self. Naruto could understand that now.

The sound of breaking twigs and a quick gait drew close and Gamakichi's massive body appeared through the trees at last. Padded feet dug into the ground, spraying dirt and debris over the waiting team as the toad came to a stop before the fire. Jiraiya sat atop his summoned companion, a large purple welt on his cheek puckered his left eye.

"You guys really flew, huh?" He said nonchalantly.

_Hands on his shoulders!_ Naruto's eyes slipped from the sennin's bruises to the fingers clutching Jiraiya's shirt; manicured and polished red.

"What did you-" Naruto's growl was cut short when Tsunade dismounted from behind her former teammate and was on Naruto in less than a second.

A few teammates cried out in alarm as a pale fist hurtled towards Naruto. The teen spun lightly out of the way, tanned fingers grasping the wrist and a well placed foot blocked the leg that followed. Another blow met with the palm of Naruto's hand, the sound of impact painful in their ears. Each strike was matched and deflected; Naruto never going on the offense but never letting a blow land on him as Tsunade rampaged on.

_Is she holding back,_ Neji wondered in surprise, _or has Naruto really come THAT far?_ Had he not seen Naruto defeat Orochimaru with his own eyes last year he never would have even considered the possibility that the man was a match for the hokage. Perhaps there was something to Gondaime's fascination with his loud friend.

A final failed attempt at knocking Naruto's head from his neck and Gondaime stopped her attacks, her fist clenched tightly in Naruto's grip. Blue eyes locked with brown and mentor and protégé stood that way for a moment, staring each other down with deadly intent.

"Bastard." She hissed. Naruto smiled slyly.

_What the hell is he smiling for?!_ Shikamaru took a step back.

"Bitch." The blonde man swore and Sakura shoved fists to her mouth, unable to believe what she was hearing. Tsunade had already proven she had no qualms about nearly killing a friend when she had beaten Jiraiya; and that was just because she caught the pervert peeping! Naruto was digging his own grave with his insolence.

Tsunade returned the frigid smile. Naruto released her hand, white finger marks turning red on her light skin.

"So are we good?" He asked, his relaxed posture doing nothing to settle his team's nerves.

"Yeah, we're good." She relented, flexing throbbing fingers. Neji released a slow breath and Ino cursed under hers.

"You called off your pack-dogs?" Naruto checked. But Tsunade shook her head.

"I can't do that, Naruto." She said. "I have a job to do and you forced my hand, brat. They're still coming for you."

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here!" Ino shouted, her confusion escalating to resentment. Yet her pleas were ignored as people started speaking at once.

"So why _are_ you here?" Kakashi asked.

"Have you come to take us back?" Lee watched carefully, trying not to appear too combative in his stance.

"You almost took his head off!" Sakura's inner self wriggled free a bit.

"You can all stop wetting your pants. I'm not acting as hokage right now," Tsunade said, "I'm acting as Tsunade; Naruto's friend. I was hoping to convince you to come home without the need for the ANBU." Naruto opened his mouth and she grinned. "But that won't happen, I can see. So I'm here as Naruto's friend, and I intend on protecting him from anything I deem to be a threat." A silencing look from the team leader told her all she needed to know.

The group didn't know about her suspicions.

_Fine. They've been warned anyway._

"Even ANBU?" She chuckled and shook her head in amusement at Naruto's question.

"Don't push it." She replied. "If they catch up you're going in. I won't stop them from doing what they've been ordered to do. But I will watch your back until that happens. You get one chance, brat."

There was a popping sound and Gamakichi vanished; Jiraiya coming up to join his friends.

"If you guys need it, we've got time to rest a bit longer," he said with a smirk, "I left your friends a nicely hidden present along the way that I'm sure they'll find soon enough. Yomi Numa never does get boring." The thought of the great ANBU squad mired up to their necks in Jiraiya's swamp trap brought a real grin out of the blonde kid.

"No, we were just getting ready to leave anyway." He jerked a thumb behind him. "Besides, these guys are too wound up to sleep anymore." Jiraiya looked out over Naruto's team. Tense postures and wide eyes brought a hearty laugh from the man.

"Fine. Whenever you're ready."

Naruto smiled at his former teacher's deference. A single word from the jounin leader and the team returned to the trees; Tsunade and Jiraiya joining in the group. He then turned the team west again. With Jiraiya occupying the ANBU now was as good of a time as any to head straight on and cover as much ground as possible.

The sky flashed red.

Naruto blinked. Weird. Hinata was beside him; watching him. She looked worried again, but hadn't seemed to notice the sky. Maybe he was just tired. He tried to smile for her. She had worried enough in his opinion.

Behind her!

No, nothing was there.

"What is it?" She sounded concerned. He blinked and opened his mouth, ready to tell her it was fine.

Black eyes, an inch from his face! He gasped.

Gone. Nothing there.

He shook his head, his foot landing on the next branch.

_'...Naruto...'_ A brush of movement against his arm. Nothing there! He recoiled, colliding into the tree trunk.

"Naruto!" She cried his name. There was a muffled noise. Someone from the team was coming up quickly.

Black eyes!

Red sky!

The trees he stood upon vanished in a haze of red.

The moon! Kami, the red moon!

Images flashed before his vision almost before he could register them.

Nothing there!

The kyuubi roared within, furious.

Red eyes, watching him!

Naruto's eyes squeezed shut, but the black ones were there, watching him!

_'...no...'_ a whisper within his mind.

_"Sasuke!"_ He screamed, unable to shut it out. Hinata cried out from close by. Something grabbed his arm and he flung it away.

Hinata cried out again.

Red sky!

Red eyes!

Sasuke, standing before him, in the trees!

_'...don't...' _his voice was from the dead.

"Get away from me!" Naruto shrieked. "You're not real!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi was somewhere, Naruto could hear him!

Black eyes, pleading; so close again. Warm breath on his face.

_"Sensei, get him away from me!"_ His voice rose in panic, fists clenched against his ears helplessly.

_'Naruto no!'_ A pale hand reached out. Sasuke's...

The red moon loomed into view; a dark silhouette in contrast against it.

Him.

_"Sasuke you're dead!"_ It was not a threat, but a plea.

A plea for sanity.

Blue eyes rolled into back into his head.

He was floating.

Falling.

Gone.

XXXX

Kakashi lowered the unconscious man to the ground. Hinata dropped beside her fiancé, throwing off whoever had tried to pull her back.

"Come on, Naruto," he said, slapping the man's face. Nothing. Maybe it wasn't exhaustion. Kakashi's fingers flew up. "Kai!" He tried the release. Still nothing.

Blood trickled from Naruto's nose, though Kakashi had only struck his cheek.

"Oh shit."

Kakashi was shoved bodily out of the way, Tsunade taking his place. Painted fingers flew in a jutsu and she held glowing hands to the unconscious body before her. Her brow wrinkled.

"Nothing's wrong." She frowned. "There's nothing to heal. No injury, no illness, no strain."

"It was like his dreams," Hinata choked, "only he was awake."

"Dreams?" Gondaime seized the girl's shoulder in menacing grip. "What dreams?"

"Dreams of Uchiha Sasuke," the white-eyed girl replied, "and a red light and the kyuubi. He'd wake up crying out Sasuke's name. But they were only dreams!"

Tsunade turned a graven expression back to her would-be successor. She pulled open an eyelid. The orb beneath had rolled back, yet a sliver of the iris was visible.

Red.

"What the hell?"

_The kyuubi..._ Tsunade released her hold on the eyelid and watched as it slid over the organ slowly. Naruto's breathing had become shallow, his skin tinged with blue.

_Oh Kami..._

"We've got to get him back."

XXXX

**A/N**

Not much to say this time. (Weird, I know. I do so love to talk...) I think maybe some illicit drugs would have helped me get to results I was hoping for with this chapter, though. But alas, I have neither the death wish nor the free time jail would require, so I didn't use anything but my brain and my best guess at what a really bad acid trip would be like. ;)

I have a feeling I'm going to deserve a bit of constructive criticism on this chapter. It didn't flow like the others. But then again I wasn't really too excited about my LAST Chapter Three, either (Chapter 3 of the "Twelve" series). Hmmm. Maybe it's just that I don't like midpoints... Anyway, please let me know what you think, okay? Thanks!


	4. Dark Dreams Crimson Nightmares

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters.

Chapter Four: Dark Dreams; Crimson Nightmares

XXXX

She had grown to hate those sounds.

Click. Hiss.

She could almost see through the skin around his eyes, for how pale he was. He had been breathing erratically until they had put him on the ventilator. During the trip home he had actually stopped breathing a few times. Tsunade had been forced to perform emergency resuscitation. That had not been easy from the back of an eighty foot toad with a serious attitude problem.

Naruto's pulse was a weak flutter beneath cool skin. Warmed blankets did nothing to help raise his body heat to normal and she had ordered heating pads to keep his temperature stable. His eyes were still closed, though she would pull open a lid once in a while to check.

Red. Always red, though she never _could_ see anything but the bottom sliver of an iris. His eyes had remained rolled back into his head since the moment he had collapsed, which was not a good sign. She wished she could see if his pupils were responsive.

Naruto's chest expanded following the slight popping noise of the ventilator and his breath hissed through the tube softly.

She had no idea what was going on with him. Her medics had been sent with Shizune to pour over texts and case histories in the hopes that there was an answer to this, or even a clue. But Tsunade didn't hold out much hope. Not with the kyuubi involved.

"Did you consider Tsukuyomi?" She looked behind her and saw Kakashi enter the room, hands shoved into his pockets.

"How the hell-"

"I don't do interrogations." He replied coolly. "And I'm not your traitor."

_MY traitor, huh?_

"So he told you." She didn't even bother to ask him how he had managed to leave the room where he had been sent for questioning. Or how he had escaped the ANBU, who had bent sent to pry every detail of their time in the forest from him. He was Hatake Kakashi. There were precious few in the village who could best him.

One of them was lying in the bed before her now.

"That same night," he revealed. "So, did you consider it?."

"Yeah, but Tsukuyomi requires eye contact from a Mangekyo Sharingan, as I'm sure you know perfectly well. And I never once saw or felt Itachi's presence. So... are you going to tell me, or should I start in on you the hard way?"

"There was nothing." Kakashi lowered himself to the foot of Naruto's bed. "No odd behavior from within the squad; no strange presences from without. One night he had a nightmare and then they just kept coming. He stopped sleeping for a couple of days, Hinata told me later."

"Why did you let him go?" Brown eyes fell on him with a raptor's intent. "Why didn't you try to talk some sense into him, or try to stop him?"

Click. Hiss.

"Because I know him," the jounin was seemingly unfazed by her current attitude, "better than you do, if you can believe it. He may be your lineage, but he's my kid. Maybe not by blood or law, but he's as good as mine. Only Iruka could argue my claim, though he never would. The simple fact is that Naruto was going after Itachi and there was no stopping him. I wanted to be there, to watch his back."

"You did a shit job, Kakashi." She growled. A black eye rose to hers, clearly upset.

"You could have done better, Lady Hokage?" He spat the title out as though it were an insult. "Then do it now. Save him from what's after him. Bring him out of this and prove that I'm a failure; that he was better off here with you."

"Don't you tempt me..."

"Go on and beat the shit out of me, if that's what you're threatening." He sighed. Tsunade's ire waned, his apathy infecting her. "At least then I won't have to sit here and feel like I let him down." Naruto took two breaths in the time she sat and watching his sensei.

"That's probably the most cowardly thing I've ever heard from you." She said at last.

"Yeah, well, I'm feeling pretty cowardly right now." He admitted. Her mouth drew into a tight line and she turned back to her patient.

"If Itachi is in his head as it appears he is," she said slowly, "then I have reason to doubt there was a traitor on his team."

"You think Naruto was his own informant? Someone - Itachi - pulled the information of the sword from his memories?"

"It makes more sense than thinking one of them had anything to do with this." She waved a dismissive hand towards the hospital room door. "Especially now."

"Then maybe you should let them go," Kakashi said, "before one of them gets it in their head to try and take on a pair of ANBU operatives."

"Like you?" No answer. She rose from her stool. "Stay here, will you? I'll be back in a few."

"I'm not going anywhere." The masked face turned back to Naruto, a single dark eye that looked beyond exhausted watched as the teen's chest rose and fell mechanically. Ordinarily he'd be pulling out one of his sick little books, she knew. His way of killing time. But now he only sat there, watching the blonde helplessly. There was a defeated slump in his shoulders she had never seen in him before. Not even after Sasuke's death did the Copy-nin seem so lost.

Kakashi was right. Naruto was as good as his son. She'd try to keep that in mind when dealing with the pair from now on.

Tsunade pulled herself from the scene.

Naruto's team awaited.

XXXX

Neji's face contorted, the Byakugan answering his silent call.

"You're not seriously thinking of trying that again." The man before him scolded, a white mask with red markings covering his face. Neji's battered arms testified that he had not sat quietly during his time in this stark little room, a broken table and chair in the corner also casualties of his defiance.

He hadn't seen anyone from the group since their return. The shinobi in white masks and black robes had pounced upon them almost immediately. ANBU; Tsunade's thugs. In a frenzy of grunts and scuffling feet Neji had watched as the special forces had immobilized and carried off his friends; with the exception of Kakashi; who had, for some reason, gone along quietly without so much as a rebellious glance. Neji had not been quite so compliant.

"I've told you all that I know." The Hyuuga growled. "Now let me out of here. I demand it."

"You seem to think your clan name gives you some sway here," another man to his right said, mocking. "Your little cousin isn't getting off that easily. What makes you think you should?"

Neji fumed. "If you bastards touch her-" Nostrils flared in barely suppressed rage "-I'll kill you." Neither operative took the threat seriously.

"Tell us what happened to your team leader and it won't have to come to that." The robed man replied. This was getting him nowhere, Neji realized.

"He started having nightmares." He said in an impatient rush. "Then one day he just snapped, like he was having a nightmare even though he was awake. After that he went unconscious."

"You said that already." Neji pounded a fist into the wall behind him, white plaster flaking off onto his fist.

"Well what else can I tell you? You don't listen when I say that's all I know!" An oddly cadenced knock interrupted his rant and the door opened; Tsunade standing in the portal.

"You're done here." She said. The two interrogators nodded and left, Tsunade quirked an eyebrow when the young man remained behind. "Coming?" The white eyed man exited the room in stony silence, Tenten throwing herself against him as soon as he emerged.

"You're okay!" She cried. "I could hear you shouting through the wall! Then there was a commotion. I thought they were torturing you!"

"I'm fine." He ran a hand down the back of her head, watching the hokage with cold calculation as she knocked on another door. Hinata approached and stood beside her cousin, her fists clutched against her chest.

Sakura stalked out of the newly opened door, her cheek scraped and her knuckles bruised.

_So the cherry blossom let her inner self out,_ Tsunade surmised. Sakura's lips pulled back over her teeth in an expression reminiscent of her teammate as she suppressed the words she wanted to flay the older woman with.

"Where is Naruto?" The young kunoichi was finally able to safely say. "What did you do with him?"

"This wasn't because we left without permission," Shikamaru cut in from behind Neji, "was it? You wouldn't have sent us into interrogation if it was. You think one of us did something to him."

"Thought." Gondaime corrected. "Not anymore."

"What?!" The reaction poured from several people at once, indignant and angry.

"You believed we were responsible?" Lee's outrage radiated from him. "You believed his condition was our doing?"

"You have no right," Sakura hissed, "we've been his friends - his family - since before you even knew his name. There is no way we'd ever do anything to hurt him!"

"That's what he said." The blonde woman replied and walked away.

"Wait! He _said_?!" Ino threw herself in Tsunade's path. "You told him you thought one of us was trying to hurt him? When?"

"The night before you left. The night I told him about Itachi."

"So he's not awake..." Chouji's expression fell. He and Ino had obviously shared the same hope.

"No, he's not."

"None of this matters!" Hinata cried out. "Don't you get it? It's Itachi! It has to be! We've got to stop him!" Lee swung a hard gaze over to Tsunade.

"Will you attempt to stop us if we chose to go?"

"Where will you go? Hmm?" She asked. "It's been nearly two weeks. The bastard could be anywhere. But more importantly, he could be close by waiting for his chance to pounce. You go rushing off now and Naruto loses his best defense."

"First we're a threat and now we're his best defense?" Neji growled. "I think you-"

"I need to see him." Sakura said abruptly. "I need to talk to him. I can't think about this right now."

"He wouldn't hear you, Sakura." Tsunade was not completely without compassion, but she wouldn't lie to the pink haired woman, either.

"I don't care!" Tears sparkled in the young jounin's eyes. "The hospital, right? I'm going. If you try to stop me..." Tsunade took a step to the side, waiting for the others to pass, and Sakura took her cue.

The assembly filtered out after her, Neji pausing to turn a heated scowl on Tsunade. She waited for him to say something to her. Something cold. Maybe even something that would hurt her. The Hyuuga boy had a talent for striking people's nerves, she knew. But he simply stared at her for a minute before turning to join his friends.

She decided against returning to her successor's room for a while. Right now she had the distinct feeling that she wouldn't be welcomed.

XXXX

_What the hell..._

This was so bizarre. His mouth was slack around the white tube. There was no smirk; no grimace. No heated words telling Neji what a pompous ass he was. No graveled voice telling the Hyuuga to shut up. No obnoxious laughter.

This was wrong...

His eyes were closed. Where was the glare he normally received? Where was that glow that came when the blonde laughed? Where was the impudence Naruto was so famous for? He was so peaceful. Naruto was never meant to be this way. He was a maelstrom of emotions and activity. But now he lay in hospital bed; motionless and completely dependant on machines to survive.

This wasn't the Naruto Neji knew at all.

Uzumaki Naruto laughed and screamed and shouted. He wasn't afraid to cry. He wasn't afraid to love. He wasn't afraid to be himself in front of others, no matter what those others said about him. He never held back; not anything.

He was strong. He was fearless.

Neji watched as Hinata sat at the bedside stool and held the blonde's hand, rubbing a thumb over tanned skin-turned white.

Naruto's room had not been without at least two of his friends since the team had arrived at the hospital earlier that day. Sakura now slept in a chair at the foot of the bed. Kakashi was slumped down against a wall, his head pillowed on arms draped over knees, his exposed eye had finally drifted shut. Tenten was curled up in a corner, Neji's vest covering her shoulders. She had been asleep for hours now.

The others were somewhere close by, he guessed. Probably passed out in the lobby or at the cafeteria getting their three hundredth cup of tea for the day. He doubted very much that any of them had gone home. He certainly had no plans on leaving anytime soon.

She had cried at first. Sakura. She had wept like a girl when they had first entered the room and found Naruto looking two seconds from death. A few tears had escaped the others as well but none as much as the pink haired woman.

Hinata had not spoken since entering her fiancé's room. She hadn't cried, not even a tear. She had simply sat beside his bed, taken up his hand and then went completely silent. That worried her cousin greatly.

Neji had to admit, he'd rather see Naruto engulfed by the kyuubi's rage than as he lay now.

It was well after midnight, hours after they had arrived, and the rooms had been dimmed. Not that Naruto needed the lights turned down. Tsunade had come by eventually. She hadn't tried to apologize - she obviously felt she had done nothing wrong - though she had tried to convince the others to go home and sleep.

"Yeah, we'll get right on that." Tenten had barked in sarcastic reply. His Tenten; telling off the hokage. He knew there was a reason he loved that woman.

He couldn't imagine what he'd do if it were her in that bed. He couldn't imagine what Hinata must be feeling right now. Kami help him, he didn't want to.

She just sat there, quietly, he observed of his cousin, watching Naruto as though he were about to fade away. She never released his hand. She never left that stool. She just sat there and watched him.

"You need to sleep, Hinata." He said at last. Her long black hair brushed against her back as she shook her head.

"I'm not tired."

"You look tired."

"Well I'm not." _Alright then. You're not tired._ There was a slight intake of breath from her direction. "Neji?" Her voice was softer now.

"Yeah?" Time passed and he thought she had given up on what she was about to say. But her voice returned, softer still.

"Do you... do you think... I'll make a good wife?"

She didn't want to hear that she'd be a good wife. She wanted to hear that she'd be a good wife to Naruto. She wanted someone to tell her they still had a future together. He wasn't stupid. Then again, neither was she.

"I think you two are going to make each other very happy." He said, deciding to give her what she wanted. She needed some hope to cling to; someone to share in her wish. He truly hoped he hadn't just lied to her. She was quiet for a moment and he thought that was the end of it.

"Thank you, Neji." She whispered finally. There was nothing more to say.

He went back to Tenten's side, thanking whatever divinity had been responsible for bringing her to him.

XXXX

Ino waited for that fist, doubting very much she'd be fast enough to dodge it. But the blow never came. Tsunade's cold brown eyes watched her. Sakura stood beside her friend, trying to be supportive without interfering.

"I don't believe I heard you correctly." The hokage said slowly, which meant she _had_ heard Ino and was simply giving the jounin a chance to take back her words.

"I said," Ino cursed her own stubbornness silently, "I'm going to do it, whether or not you approve." The elder woman barely nodded.

"Are you really so self-destructive?" Tsunade asked quietly, red tipped fingers curling in on themselves. "I could break you back down to genin for this. I've done it to others for less." Ino tried not to shudder.

"It's been four days, Gondaime." She said slowly, trying not to betray her nerves. _How the hell does Naruto stand up to her without cringing?_ "No one has any idea what is going on. Your people are getting nothing from the records and Itachi hasn't shown his face yet. He may never show up; we don't know. I could get answers for us. I can do this!"

"You could end up in a coma, yourself. That thought never crossed your mind?"

"I am sick of waiting!" Ino balled her fists, holding back the obscenities that would normally be flying from her tongue. Offending the hokage wouldn't get her anywhere, she knew. Not that Gondaime was the type to be offended by words, or much anything else. "No one is doing anything to help him! I don't care if it's reckless. He's done plenty of reckless things to protect the ones he loves. It's time someone returned the favor! The others agree with me."

"You already told the others?" Ino raised her chin defiantly, trying not to cower under the hokage's watchful eyes.

"I did." She said. Sakura nodded.

"We're behind Ino all the way." She said. "I'd do it myself if I knew how. Any of us would."

Tsunade appraised the girls before her for a while. Though Ino's brows quivered and she shifted on her feet nervously she never once looked away. She was trying.

_It's this or nothing, I guess._

"You'll be supervised." Gondaime finally said and Ino's eyes lit up. "Closely. This is strictly reconnaissance. You get in, you take a look around and you get out. Don't _do_ anything, do you understand?" Tsunade took a deliberate step towards the girl. "I mean it, Yamanaka, if you try to be a hero while you're in there you could end up doing more harm than good. You could do permanent damage, for all we know. Just tell us what's going on inside his head and we'll move on from there."

"Understood." Ino nodded, pulling on her shinobi face as easily as she would a shirt. Orders were easy. She'd been taking them since she was old enough to perform jutsu. This was a mission; a mission for her friend's life. This was something she could handle. No sweat.

"When can she start?" Sakura asked. Tsunade glanced through the tiny window of Naruto's door, the still form in the bed just as it had been since arriving. Hinata was dozing by his side, her head pillowed on the edge of his bed.

After seeing him this way for so long Tsunade guessed it would only be a matter of time before she snapped and did something stupid. It'd been a while since she'd been stupid, anyway. Time for some catch-up.

"Go tell the others. I guess there's no time like the present."

XXXX

_No pressure, right?_ She sat cross-legged at the foot of his bed, trying not to take up too much space on the narrow mattress. She could feel their eyes on her. The room was crowded, people pressed up against one another, eager to see if Ino could help. Shikamaru stood behind her, hands on her shoulders, ready to support her weight once she began.

"Any messages to deliver?" Ino tried to be light, but her nerves were getting the best of her. She had no idea what she was going to find. She'd never performed the Shintenshin no Jutsu on a comatose person before. And the fact that the hokage was watching, making certain Ino didn't scramble her successor's brains, didn't help either.

"Tell him we're here," Sakura said, "and that we'll get him out of this." Ino nodded and took a deep breath. Her hands rose before her face and she peered at Naruto through her fingers.

"All aboard," she murmured and activated her jutsu. Her body felt light. Very light. She was floating, moving. The room darkened, turned black, but she wasn't worried. This always happened just before she entered someone's head.

When her body slumped against Shikamaru the assembly knew she had succeeded. Now all they had to do was wait.

"How will we know if she's in trouble?" Tenten's voice whispered softly from the doorway. The overwhelming need to be quiet seemed irrational. Ino didn't need quiet, and Naruto certainly wasn't going to mind if they spoke out loud.

"A couple minutes to get in, a few minutes to look around, and then a couple minutes to get back." Shikamaru knew his teammate well enough to speak with confidence. "Any more than ten minutes and we should start to worry."

Naruto's ventilator announced the coming of every breath. Neji had to fight against the urge to rip the thing from his friend's throat and force the man to breathe on his own again. Taking the tube out would do nothing to wake Naruto, he knew. He turned away finally, afraid that logic would lose to irrational anger.

Tsunade folded her arms and waited, watching the blonde girl closely. "You're being quite accommodating." Jiraiya observed beside her and she grunted.

"From what I can see, his eyes are red," she pointed out. "The kyuubi is active, though I don't know why the aura isn't. But if someone is trying to pull the beast out of him I have to know." Silence again and the ten minute mark was nearly upon them. Shikamaru took a deep breath, hoping he was overreacting. Worries about Ino never waking up began to fill his head.

_Patience..._

The minutes ticked by broken only by the clock and Naruto's forced breath.

Ino gasped, her body going rigid, her legs kicking out, pummeling the man in the bed before her. "Oh gods! Shit no-" she shrieked and Shikamaru jerked her from the bed, saving Naruto's prone body from the assault. She struggled against his arms, but he held onto her tightly.

"Ino!" He fought to keep his hold on her. "Ino, it's okay! Snap out of it already!" His friend wrenched against him, trembling and Tsunade was before her, polished fingers grasping her chin tightly.

"What did you see?" The hokage demanded. "Yamanaka, report!" Ino reached up and clasped the wrist before her, holding on for dear life.

"Sasuke!" She gasped and it seemed as though everyone in the room had stopped breathing.

"What about Sasuke?" Tsunade's cool authority gave the kunoichi an anchor and she clung to it desperately.

"Sasuke was there - in Naruto's head! Sasuke is there!" Her eyes darted to the unconscious man fearfully. Shikamaru tightened his hold around her.

"That was his dream, Ino," he said gently, "he dreamed about Sasuke. Remember? It was only a dream."

"No, no it wasn't! Naruto saw him, too!"

"You saw Naruto?" Tsunade gave the jounin's head a slight shake, forcing light eyes to meet hers. "You saw him?" Ino tried to nod through the grip.

"He's there! In a room with a cage. The kyuubi!" She was rambling, but Tsunade was able to understand well enough; and so were the others, that much was clear. "In front of the cage! Sasuke! He won't let us close! He's guarding the cage. Keeping it closed! Naruto's so scared! He thinks he's dead, too!"

Hinata sobbed her lover's name and Tenten wrapped her arms around the Hyuuga heir's shoulders. "I told him he's not!" Ino tried to shake her head desperately, though the hokage's grip prevented much movement. "I had to, Gondaime! I had to tell him! He's so scared! He's not dead, right?"

"No, Ino," she said, "he's not dead. You didn't lie."

"Sasuke... Sasuke's dead, right? We saw him die! We buried him! He's dead! So how is he there?" Ino trembled violently. Tsunade pulled a syringe from her belt. She had been betting on two situations; a coma or this. In all honesty she was grateful for the girl's panic. It could have been much worse.

"I'm going to give you something, Ino. It's going to calm you down. Shikamaru hold tight." The Nara did as he was told, whispering into Ino's ear while Tsunade administer the shot. Ino babbled on incoherently for a moment or two before finally sagging against her friend's chest.

"Sasuke... Sasuke's screaming..." She wept softly. "Screaming for help... for someone... Naruto... gotta stop Itachi..."

"Sasuke is calling for help?" Jiraiya asked. "Is that what you said?"

"Help him..." her voice was softer now, the drug taking effect, "help him, Kami, please... kyuubi... red sky... stop the moon..."

"Red sky, and the moon..." The sennin watched the distraught girl's chin fall to her chest as she fell into a drugged sleep, feeling a distinct dread weaken his limbs.

"It seems you were right, Kakashi," Tsunade sighed wearily, "now we just have to find out how the hell he's doing it."

"Doing what?" Sakura's voice was broken, her eyes swollen. Ino's panic had her terrified for her best friend.

"Tsukuyomi." The Copy-nin whispered.

XXXX

"I thought your little brother was no longer an obstacle." The soft voice held no accusation, only inquiry. Yet Itachi was irked by the statement nonetheless. He pushed himself up from the cot. He'd rested enough.

"The dead usual aren't." He replied simply. His partner regarded him from across the way with cold beady eyes. Though most would wither under that gaze Uchiha Itachi knew that his partner meant no disrespect with the glare. It was simply how the man appeared.

"How can you be so sure that it is him?" Kisame was not as alarmed as most in their position would be. He had witnessed stranger things, though the spirit of a dead boy haunting the mind of another was a new experience for him. "It seems more likely that he's a manifestation by the boy or the demon. Perhaps a defensive maneuver of some kind."

"That is always that possibility," Itachi replied amicably. "The presence is strong, though, and the boy is fighting it. And I strongly doubt the demon would have any objection to switching hosts. One prison is as good as any. Or as bad."

"So you believe it is him?" Kisame said. "Sasuke?"

"I cannot say for certain. But the fact remains that something resembling my brother is there now and has planted itself firmly in our way."

"You know your brother better than I do," the shark-like man said casually, "I'll leave it to your discretion." Itachi smiled.

"I'd appreciate that." He replied.

XXXX

Tsunade threaded fingers behind her head, her face hanging over the papers littering her desk.

_Shit._

Ino's report had been troubling her. Not so much because of the terror the girl had experienced, but because of _why_ the girl had been so frightened.

Tsunade dismissed the presence of the dead Uchiha in Naruto's mind. A dream, as the Nara boy had told Ino, and nothing more. The hokage focused instead on the larger issue. How had Itachi performed the Tsukuyomi without actually being present? What power had the Akatsuki member obtained to grant him such a reach? The questions had disturbed her, even frightened her a little. Akatsuki was growing as a threat, this was perfectly clear. She had practically obsessed over this fact for the passed few hours.

Until she let the question of Sasuke's appearance niggle at her mind. If it was a dream, why had Naruto seen it that day in the forest - when he had been wide awake?

It could have been Tsukuyomi; an attack from Itachi.

And Ino had said Sasuke was keeping "us" from the cage. Sasuke's likeness had been aware of her presence. Though it was true Ino had become a part of Naruto's mind, Tsunade fretted over how Naruto's dream had managed to incorporate Ino into it so quickly. Could Itachi have brought her into the attack?

And that lead her to her third and most prominent worry. Sasuke was guarding the kyuubi. Were Sasuke's image a work of Itachi, shouldn't it be trying to break the demon out rather than keep it locked within?

The more she thought on it the more nervous she became. It wasn't adding up. Her instincts were screaming at the wrongness of the situation, and Tsunade had learned the danger in ignoring her instincts.

She dove into texts and reports, her eye skimming over writing, looking for something that would trigger a memory, a thought, anything that would tell her why this was troubling her so much.

And at last she finally found something. A newer document she had previously cast aside, in favor of the reports she had mistakenly considered far more important.

A single sheet of paper sat atop the rest now, the focus of her gaze. She read the words over and over, trying not to panic. She tried to convince herself that this could save him from Itachi. But even if that were the case...

The lump still rose to her throat and she couldn't help but feel dread as she re-read those words until they no longer seemed like words at all. This was not what she had expected in the beginning. Yet now, it was beginning to make sense. Her hands became icy, the blood rushing from her body.

_Why? Why would he..._

It explained Naruto's eyes, and his dreams, if not the reason he was comatose.

The kyuubi wasn't active after all.

Those two words.

'Fushi Tensei'.

The Sharingan...

_Oh Gods...Uchiha..._

XXXX

**A/N**

Okay, feeling better again. I was suffering from some serious writers block, in case you couldn't tell from the...er... quality... of my last chapter. I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn't freaking get it right! Man, if you've never written a story before let me tell you, writer's block SUCKS!

Thanks to Entilzah over at Ficwad for the help with keeping the continuity of the story! Sometimes a girl just needs to hear when she's not on her 'A' game. (Even if it was said in a very nice way!)

Please let me know what you guys are thinking! That means review, please! OH! And if you can spare the points, I'd appreciate some ratings, too. Wink-wink-nudge-nudge Hehehee! Thanks everyone!


	5. In Hope of Failure

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, my bank account was not overflowing with profits from the Naruto franchise. Guess that means I don't own it...

Chapter Five: In Hope of Failure

XXXX

Ino bolted upright, white sheets slipping from her shoulders.

"Naruto!"

Shikamaru awoke with a gasping cry, nearly falling from his chair. He and Chouji had stayed with their friend throughout the night, watching over her. Tsunade's drug had kept the kunoichi unconscious for nearly eleven hours; ever since she had come back from their team leader's mind.

"Its okay, Ino," Chouji dropped his empty take-out carton into the trash and sat by her side on the bed. "Naruto is okay - or - he hasn't changed, at least." Pale blue eyes roved the hospital room she had been assigned to. It hadn't dawned on her yet that she was under medical observation, nor that it wasn't night outside her small window, but very early in the morning. At the moment she was single-mindedly focused on just one thing.

"Where is Tsunade?" She asked, sliding pale legs out from under the sheets. "I have to give her my report."

"Whoa, wait a sec!" Shikamaru tried to keep her in the bed but she shoved his hands away. "You were really out of it yesterday. Gondaime doesn't want you up and about just yet."

"I'm fine, really. But Tsunade needs to know that Sasuke-"

"Is in Naruto's head." Chouji finished as though he were repeating a lesson he had been forced to recite a hundred times before. "Yeah, we know. You sort of went nuts and wouldn't stop screaming that when you got back."

"I remember." She said, pushing herself to her feet and earning a groan from her laid-back friend about what a pain in the ass she was. "I also remember that I was knocked out before I could give my full report. Tsunade needs to hear what I saw. Is she here?"

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head in resignation, jerking a thumb towards the door. "Last we heard she was heading back to her office, but that was last night."

"Fine. We'll start in Naruto's room and then swing by her office." Ino ripped her clothes from the bathroom door and went inside to change.

"Such a pain in the ass." Shikamaru repeated. Chouji just shrugged and followed silently when Ino burst from the bathroom moments later and then was out in the hallway without pausing for her friends.

She had only been a few rooms down from Naruto's to her relief. She didn't want to waste any more time than she already had. The comatose man's room had not been empty, but she had not expected it to be. Hinata was there, of course, as was Iruka.

"The others were ordered to go home and shower." The older man had obviously noticed the blonde's surprise at seeing so few people. "Hinata used the shower here. Tsunade wouldn't try to order her to leave. She knows when she can't win a fight."

"Do you know where Tsunade is?" Ino didn't have time for pleasant conversation. And as much as she liked the older man she really didn't have time to talk with him right now. Iruka sat forward in his chair, shaking his head.

"No, why?" It was clear to him that something was troubling the blonde girl. "Does this have anything to do with yesterday?"

"Yeah, actually."

Iruka nodded and stood. "I'm going to go help Ino find the hokage," he said, touching Hinata's arm to make certain she had heard, "will you be alright here?"

_By yourself?_ It was beginning to feel like Naruto wasn't even there anymore.

Like he was already dead. Iruka chased the thought from his mind. He'd kick himself later for allowing it to even emerge.

"Go," Hinata replied, "then come back here, please. I want to know what's going on too."

Ino had no intention of leaving the Hyuuga woman out in the cold. "Of course."

"I'll go check her home. You go to her office. We'll all meet back here." Iruka laid out the plans and then broke from the others to start the search.

"Shika, you two go gather up the others." Ino started down the hallway towards the stairs. "They'd be pissed if we let them miss this."

"Must be some news you have." Chouji turned to head out the side door, Shikamaru heading out in the opposite direction.

"Yeah," the woman muttered, "you could say that."

XXXX

Ino had found the hokage at her office, just as the others had said. Tsunade had been perched over her desk, staring down at a jumbled pile of papers, her little desk lamp providing the only light in the dim room. Judging from the red blotches on her face when she pulled her hands away, the woman had been sitting that way for quite some time.

"I need to give you my report, Gondaime," Ino repeated. It had taken two tries to get a response out of the woman, Shizune had been unable to get anything out of the hokage, Ino had learned. But after raising her voice a little the jounin finally got a response.

"Ino, you should be resting." Tsunade stood from her desk, taking the top page from her stack and tucking it into her belt. A weary sigh and a slow shake of the head followed. This was not like the usually spirited hokage. "Besides, I really don't think that's necessary anymore."

_What?_ Tsunade would never brush off information any other time. Something was wrong.

"I think it is, Lady Hokage." Ino replied a little more firmly. "I think it is very necessary that I give you my report."

"Then give it, if you insist." The elder woman huffed. "Right now."

"But the others-" Ino turned to the door, signaling they should leave.

"Now, Yamanaka."

"Yes, Lady Hokage." Ino bowed. The hokage was clearly on edge, Ino realized and this was one of those times when it did not pay to play games with her patience. Deference would be a smart idea.

"Sasuke is inside Naruto's head, as I reported earlier." _Screamed, is more like it, you fucking coward,_ her inner self chastised. "He and Naruto were fighting when I first arrived."

"Fighting?" Tsunade interrupted, her stomach lurching.

"Fighting, like a real match," Ino went on, "only without all of the jutsu - my only guess is that they can't use jutsu there. But it seemed like they were actually battling each other. Naruto was crying, demanding to know if he was dead. I don't know who started the fight. They were both pretty pissed by the time I got there." Tsunade felt the blood rush from her face.

_No... you bastard..._ Was Sasuke really trying to take over?

"They pretty much ignored me, though I could tell they were aware of my presence. They just seemed too intent on one another. It was almost like seeing someone just pop into Naruto's head was normal for them."

"But then something strange happened." Ino went on. Tsunade's reaction was lost to the girl, whose memories were sweeping over her in once again. "The moon came out. I could see it in the sky through a hole in the ceiling."

"The red sky." Tsunade clarified and Ino nodded.

"And when the moon came out Sasuke looked terrified. He threw himself over Naruto, like he was trying to shield him from the moon." The girl shivered. "That's when he started screaming at me; screaming for help and that we had to stop Itachi. He went from trying to beat the hell out of Naruto to trying to save him, it seemed. And Naruto didn't even fight him when it happened. It was like he was... just gone, like he just went to sleep with his eyes open. And the kyuubi... he started howling."

Ino sucked in a deep, shuddering breath, trying to still her nerves. "Then I was being thrown out of Naruto's mind. But I remember... before I left, the room changed, but only for a second. There were candles, and a baby on a pillow. A blonde baby. And a man standing over him... I think it was Naruto's dad. I mean, it looked like him." Tsunade's breath caught. She grasped the girl's arms in tight fingers.

"Did you see the seal?" The hokage's grip on her dug painfully into Ino's bone. "Did you see his father perform the seal?"

"No," Ino flinched, "no the room went back to that strange place with the kyuubi. Sasuke was screaming again, saying that I had to hurry. That he wasn't going to be able to last much longer. That's it. That's when I came back."

"Son of a bitch," the older woman breathed, "he's trying to learn Yondaime's seal. He's trying to learn how to break it!"

"What?" Ino blinked. "Who is?"

"Itachi." The hokage pulled the girl from the room roughly.

_If he's learned how already..._

"We have to get Naruto to a secure location."

XXXX

"You are _not_ taking him where we can't see him!" Hinata blocked the doorway and shoved a foot under the wheel of Naruto's gurney. Tsunade's ANBU members watching the angry woman behind painted masks. It was darker in the room; the curtains had been drawn together tightly. This was not unusual; Naruto usually received his baths this time each day. Tsunade had planned this carefully.

"The fewer people who know of his location the safer he'll be." Tsunade replied. "This is to protect him, Hinata. Not to punish you."

"Pardon us for being uncooperative, but your protection hasn't been very successful lately, Lady Hokage," Neji growled impudently and the woman lashed out with the back of her hand, striking his cheek.

"You want to place blame on me that's fine," she replied through bared teeth, "but you save a big chunk of the blame for yourselves. You're entitled to it."

"You said we were Naruto's best defense." Sakura tried to be reasonable. "Now you're taking us from him. We can't help but be confused by your actions, Gondaime."

"The situation changes every time I blink," Tsunade replied curtly, "you're not alone in your confusion. But if what Ino saw is true, Itachi is coming dangerously close to learning the kyuubi's seal - if he hasn't already. When that happens - not _if_, people, _when_ - he'll come for Naruto. I can't have him out in the open and waiting. I need to take him somewhere safe. He needs to be somewhere where they can't hurt him." _And where he can't hurt anyone else._ She hoped with every ounce of her being that it wouldn't come to that.

"But Itachi will only go looking for Naruto once the bastard sees that he's not here!" Neji argued. "How can you expect anywhere else to be safe? At least if he's here he'll have us!"

"Hinata let them pass." Tsunade ordered, ignoring the woman's cousin. Naruto's fiancée shook her head, tears glistening in her white eyes. "Let them pass, please. I won't let anyone touch him, I swear it." Hinata dropped her gaze to Naruto's face, watching him closely. The portable ventilator beside his head popped, pushing fresh air into Naruto's lungs.

Her Naruto. Her precious one. The only one she'd ever love.

"I want him back, Tsunade," she said firmly, "if something happens - anything at all - I want him back. I won't let this be the last time I see him. And if he... if he... dies..."

"He won't." Tsunade said softly, but Hinata turned a furious glare upon the hokage, her Byakugan answering her rage almost by instinct. Fingers clawed into the air and the jounin's chakra radiated from her with such intensity Sakura could almost feel it charge her skin. Hinata's reaction happened so quickly that the hokage actually recoiled. Slightly.

"If he dies," Hinata hissed, "I'll kill everyone I believe responsible. _Everyone._"

Sakura pressed cold fingers to her lips, stifling a cry; Lee's hand clamping tightly around hers. They had never seen Hinata this way. The closest she had over come to angry was a scowl. Perhaps a firm tone. They didn't consider her weak, not anymore. The woman had strength; they all knew this by now. But hers was a kind of serene strength, fueled by love and compassion. Of all the members of their team, Hinata had always been the kindest; the gentlest. The group's heart and soul, Shino had once said of her. It was the truth.

But this...

_This is what righteous fury must look like._ Sakura thought.

Tsunade's face was grim, but she didn't strike out at Hinata as she did Neji. Insults she wouldn't tolerate, but words that poured forth from true emotion got to the hokage. She respected strength and guts. That was probably why she thought so highly of Naruto.

"I don't doubt it, Hinata," Tsunade replied, "now let them pass."

Hinata stepped aside, and the ANBU members pushed Naruto from the room. A pale hand clamped the railing of the gurney and Hinata stopped them once more.

Her fury was hidden beneath gentle caresses as she reached down and ran small fingers through his thick blonde locks. She kissed his forehead and cheeks, whispering things too low to be heard by anyone else. Another few seconds of unabashed tenderness and then she stepped back and allowed the ANBU to cover his face with a sheet and wheel him from her presence.

When she returned her attention to the hokage, though, the rage came back, sans her kekkei genkai.

"I want Itachi." She said darkly. "What do I need to do?"

"Wait," Ino was having trouble keeping up. Things were spiraling out of control as far as she was concerned. Hinata was five seconds from a murderous rampage and Ino was still mentally stumbling from what Tsunade had relayed to her on their way to the hospital. "What about Sasuke? The others have to know what you told me!"

"What about him?" Sakura demanded. "What did you find out?" Tsunade nodded, holding up a silencing hand. Things had to be just so, she knew. This was not going to be easy, but it was all she had right now. And she was going to need them; all of them. That meant she had to trust them completely.

_Let's hope you knew what you were doing Naruto..._

"You'll find out in just a few minutes, I promise. But first we need someone with stamina." She said, her eyes combing over the team members. "A whole lot of stamina."

XXXX

It was getting harder. Pretty soon he'd be no match.

He never _had_ been any match to start with, he realized bitterly, that's why things were the way they were now. He'd always been weak. He'd always had to rely on others. Even when he had been the prodigy, the gifted genius, he'd been too weak, though everyone had told him he was incredible. The student to beat. The pride of Konoha.

But he had been weak, he knew. That's why he had been allowed to live.

It was only when he and Naruto worked as a team that he'd been worth a damn. Only with his friend's help did he ever have a prayer of succeeding. Not even when he had teamed up with the snake bastard had he stood a chance. That choice had been his undoing, actually. It was because of Naruto that he had come so far in life; been so driven to excel. It was because of Naruto that he was free of that sick freak now. He'd never accepted this before. And now it was too late.

He couldn't blame Naruto for fighting him. Not after what Sasuke had done to him. Not after what Itachi had put the blonde through. Shit, Naruto was lucky he still knew who _he_ was. Sasuke had tried to protect him, but Naruto wasn't making it easy.

But Itachi _couldn't_ get the kyuubi! Right now that was all that mattered. Not even Naruto's safety mattered as much. If the kyuubi got out everyone was dead. No question about it.

He hadn't planned on coming forward; hadn't planned on doing this. But that first attack on Naruto's mind had reeked of his brother and Sasuke couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

He had spent the majority of his life hunting down his brother. Why should his death be any different? And if he could just get Naruto to accept him...

And then there had been Ino. At least he _thought_ it was Ino. She had the abilities to get here, he knew. But there was always the possibility that it had been Itachi. Still he had tried to get the message out.

He hoped the others had a plan.

Because time was running out for him. And soon Naruto's mind would be an open book for Itachi. Once that happened, someone was going to have to take control. Someone had to get Naruto's body away, before Itachi could release the seal. Either that or stand up to Itachi and end this once and for all. In this body it was certainly possible to win against the traitor.

And who knew Itachi better than Sasuke?

XXXX

Naruto's still form lay in the bed, the tube still down his throat, his face slack, and his eyes closed.

His throat lurched.

"Dammit Chouji, you have to stay still!" Tenten whispered. Hinata frowned, sitting by the bedside, her friend's hand in hers, just as she'd hold Naruto's. It was all as it had been only the day before.

Only now the man in the bed was awake and holding tightly to his Henge no Jutsu.

His throat twitched again.

"If you don't stop that she's going to put you under, just like she threatened." Tenten warned from the chair at the foot of the bed. Chouji had been gagging on the breathing tube for the passed day. Tsunade had gotten agitated and threatened to sedate the man to keep him in character. Unfortunately she had to keep her distance now.

They had staged an argument between the hokage and the team, and Tsunade had stalked off. It was unlikely that Itachi would try anything with the hokage around they had surmised. Jiraiya, Kakashi and Iruka had been ordered to keep their distance as well, though the superiors would be close by, ready if they were needed. But Itachi wouldn't think anything of the kids.

Tsunade had placed her full faith in those young jounin. They knew it. They knew what was at stake if they failed.

Much more than Naruto's life.

Much more than their little Konoha.

"He doesn't smell like Naruto." Hinata murmured and Tenten gave her a sad smile.

"I doubt Itachi is going to know what Naruto smells like." The blonde brow before her arched, though the eyes stayed closed.

It made her heart leap to see his features move in front of her. For five days she had hoped and prayed for him to blink, swallow, anything. Now it was hard to remind herself that the man before her was not her Naruto, and she had to do it or she'd lose her mind. She had to find things that would remind her that this wasn't her lover; only his image.

"I'm sorry," Hinata whispered, "I didn't mean to imply that you don't smell good. You just-"

"Did you talk to Naruto before?" Neji's voice drifted up from his place against the wall, his eyes still closed in feigned rest. "Because if you didn't and Itachi has been watching all this time he's going to notice that something's off."

Hinata sighed and rested her head against the slack arm beside her, trying to imagine what she would be doing if this really were her beloved. Gentle fingers trailed up and down his arm. Naruto had always liked it when she did that, and she had repeated the action a number of times since he had been admitted. Chouji tried not to sigh in contentment.

"How long are we going to have to do this?" Tenten returned to her magazine, staring dumbly at the words on the paper.

"Tsunade said it could take a while." Neji replied.

According to Ino's report, Sasuke was actually struggling to hold back Itachi, if what Jiraiya had said about the red sky and the moon was true. Though it was unclear what his true intentions were, right now he was the one impeding the invading Akatsuki. The Uchiha had told Ino that he wouldn't be able to last long. But there was where things got tricky. Nobody knew how long he had meant. For all they knew this could go on for weeks to come. And Ino couldn't go back, or she could risk tipping Itachi off.

The thought of not seeing Naruto for weeks, of not knowing how he was, made Hinata want to wretch. And the thought of Sasuke trying to take over Naruto's body, as Tsunade suspected, made her want to scream.

"Lee's got the next nap, right?" 'Nap' was the word they used when referring to the decoy, though Tsunade had been adamant about not speaking of it.

"Tenten," Hinata mumbled from her place beside the pale arm and the brunette rolled her eyes, returning to her magazine.

Hinata's eyes burned and she buried her face in the sheets beside Chouji. She missed Naruto. She had missed him before, when he had been lying in that bed unresponsive. But now he wasn't even here in body and it left her chest hollow and aching. She couldn't last through this much longer. That strength she had worked so hard to build was crumbling around her.

She needed to have him back.

XXXX

He laughed; an honest, truly excited laugh. It was the first time Kisame had heard that sound in quite some time. For a moment it startled him. Itachi had never been one for emotional outbursts, unless it was anger. But as his partner's mirth continued Kisame's pointed teeth glinted in the sunlight.

"You've found it?" His quiet voice was knowing. It was less of a question than it was a statement. The laughter receded to a chuckle and Itachi matched Kisame's expression.

"I've found it." Itachi confirmed. "Little brother and his friend couldn't keep me out forever."

The memory had been buried deep within the boy's mind, so deep the boy undoubtedly did not realize he still possessed such a memory. It had been an image of a blonde man standing tall over him, his hands moving in signals the child had not understood. And then there had been the flash of bright light and the roar and the smell of death. He had finally seen it all.

Itachi had found it a few times, but had only been just able to pluck it to the surface, only glimpsing the man's face, before Sasuke had it buried again, smothering out the blonde's consciousness with his own. A few times the elder had slipped and grabbed another memory. That was how they came to learn of the sword. A fortunate mistake, he had commented. Another advantage should the boy try to release the beast upon them.

Itachi never tried to attack the boy directly. That would have been foolish. The boy was constantly fighting against Sasuke, wearing him down and unwittingly destroying his last true defense.

"So let them bloody themselves on each other's swords," Itachi had told his partner, "and I will deal the final blow."

It had taken him nearly two weeks of intense concentration and exhaustive attempts, but that morning Sasuke had finally been forced to concede defeat. And when Itachi had plunged into the vessel boy's mind there had been nothing left to block his way.

"Can it be broken?" Kisame asked of the seal. Itachi looked dour.

"We will need the body." He said resolutely. "I cannot do this from a distance."

"And your brother?"

The shinobi guarding the boy were of little consequence; Jounin whelps that had yet to win any great battle of their own. After all, fifteen months ago it had been the kyuubi and the boy who had brought down Orochimaru. The others had simply been background noise. But Sasuke had proven to be difficult and Kisame had taken Itachi's example. He'd put nothing passed the youngest Uchiha.

"Once we break the seal the body will die," Itachi smiled, "and then my brother and his friend will no longer be an issue."

"Well then," the grey-skinned face before Itachi smiled, "whenever you're ready."

XXXX

Sakura sat in a darkened room, two stories above Naruto's old window. Lee was taking his 'nap' at the moment and she was taking her turn at sentry duty alone. She sat beside the window, staring out into the growing darkness.

Four days of putting one of their numbers in that bed, under the guise of their friend. Four days of watching the borders. Four days on not knowing how Naruto was doing. Even Tsunade would not go near him, though she was aware of where he was being kept. Sakura was slipping into a depression.

Hinata had plummeted into one.

Sakura found herself hoping that Sasuke would fail. That Itachi would find whatever it was he needed in Naruto's head. Anything to get this over with. She'd rather fight to the bloody death than sit here and wait for nothing. But then, that was what it meant to be a kunoichi. Kunoichi were weapons. And weapons were not meant to sit and gather dust.

_Naruto would argue that,_ she thought, _he'd never let me think of myself as only a weapon._

Something in the trees, a black silhouette against the indigo sky. Two of them, leaping among the treetops. She waited. If they were the Konoha watch they move to the ground - there! Still on the roof. They were not the assigned patrol duty. Her pulse quickened. Sakura pushed the intercom button and the nurse's voice crackled over the receiver.

"Please send some juice to room 223." She said and the nurse complied. That was the signal: juice. It had seemed silly and childish to her, but now the thought of her friends seeing those cups brought a jolt through her veins. She felt her heart rate pick up. Her skin started to tingle. That familiar feeling that she got just before a battle returned, but now she embraced it. She pushed her knuckles into the palm of her hand, feeling them pop gratifyingly.

The shadows approached the hospital, darting from rooftop to rooftop. They were in the village now! Her intercom crackled.

"They send their thanks for the thought." The nurse informed her.

_They're ready._

Sakura leapt from the bed and hurried to the stairs.

She had waited too long for this moment, and she wasn't going to miss it.

XXXX

**A/N**

Soooo, we're getting there finally, aren't we? Yes, I think we are. I'm fairly certain this story is going to be longer than the last. And though it started off kind of sluggishly, I'm really starting to have high hopes for "A Promise to Keep." I had been kind of down at first, wondering if I'd be able to top "The Strength of Twelve." For a while I wasn't thinking that I could. But I've had a change of heart since then. ;) I think I've finally fitted everything together in my head. Now if I can just keep it there! Hahahaa!

So, if you've been reading my story from the beginning you know the drill. I love to hear from my readers. I really want to know what you're thinking. It helps me out big-time. Even if you just want to write that you loved/hated it. Thanks everyone!


	6. Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't believe I ever will. I don't have that kind of money and/or luck. I'm only toying with the characters' lives. You know... for kicks.

Chapter Six: Reunion

XXXX

It was over.

They had watched as the memory had been pulled passed them. Everything had been relived in crystal clarity, as though they had lain in the infant's place at that moment once more. They hadn't made it easy on Itachi, but the man had finally battered down their defenses.

Fear had paralyzed them. The struggle had sapped them of their resources.

It had never been a battle they could have won together, though they had fought countless ones in the past, side by side. The situation had changed now. This was a fight that only one of them could face.

Because only one of them could return to the real world.

One body. Two souls. He knew this struggle. Never could both be free. Only one could dominate. Only one could live that life. The other must be sacrificed and allowed to fade away into nothingness. Forever. It was a sad circumstance, but right now there were more important things than the friendship they had shared, or the lives they had lead before this.

Their friends' lives were at risk. Konoha itself was in danger. The kyuubi could never know release.

So now it was up to him.

After all, who better to defeat Itachi...

XXXX

It was quiet. Nighttime in the hospital had always been still and peaceful. Occasionally the nurses would play soft music over the intercoms; something to sooth the newer patients who were too proud and tough to admit that they were frightened to be here. Only the youngest children ever admitted fear. The others kept it locked within, though the nurses were adept enough to know which patients needed the extra care.

But no music played tonight, and there was nothing restful about the quiet. The staff had their orders, what few orders they had been trusted with. There was no peace in the silence tonight. Tonight it was a prelude to the coming events; a living thing that held its breath in anticipation. She could feel it bearing down on her; watching.

This was it. _Finally!_

Sakura hurried down the hall, her boots treading soundlessly against the linoleum, before coming up to a halt beside the door she could now reach by reflex alone. Still nothing. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax, to be calm. The curtains would be open. They always were. She took another breath, opened the door and stepped inside.

Ino sat in the chair at the foot of the bed, sucking juice through a straw, Tenten's abandoned magazine spread out upon her lap. On the bedside table Hinata's cup remained untouched, the paper wrapper still covering the top of the straw. The Hyuuga woman's face remained buried in the sheets beside Lee's best impersonation of Naruto. And slumped against the wall was Neji; his head tilted back lazily and he ignored Sakura's entrance. All in all everything appeared normal. But it was only an appearance.

"Is she awake?" Sakura cast a casual hand in the Hyuuga's direction and tried her best to avoid looking out of the window.

"There's juice, right?" That was all the answer she was going to get, but she understood Neji's question well enough. They had to be careful now. They may no longer be alone.

Ino set her emptied cup aside and stretched. "Tsunade still pissed?" Code again.

Sakura shrugged, feigning indifference. "She'll get over it." _Yeah, she's been called._ A deliberate look from the head nurse as Sakura had rush passed told the pink-haired woman as much. That had been her task; to raise the warning. Tsunade would summon the others. If this was it, they had to be ready.

Lee's chest rose and fell in abrupt movements. Just as the ventilator would do, Sakura noticed with a small hint of pride. The machine still popped beside the bed, but the hose had been cut, the severed ends hidden behind the bed. He had to be ready to move in an instant, and it would take precious time it he had to unhook himself from the machine. They had since stopped using the throat tube. Only the mouthpiece was visible after all, so there was no need. Chouji couldn't remain in character with the tube anyway. The decoys still remembered to breathe after the ventilator's noise, but no one had been able to pull of the effect as well as Lee. Of course, as with anything else, he had practiced in his spare time. Life for Lee was all about training.

Training, and his friends.

Now all that was left was the waiting, she told herself. The seconds ticked by. Sakura moved to sit at the feet of the man who had stolen her heart. Images of Itachi breaking through the glass beside the bed and plunging the Kusanagi into Lee's chest filled her mind and clenched her gut. She had to be ready. She had to keep him safe. She couldn't lose another.

She couldn't lose Lee.

Not that Lee wouldn't be ready himself. He was a more capable fighter than she, Sakura had to admit it. And she knew better than to believe his relaxed posture and deep breaths. Lee was as ready to pounce as anyone. It was nearly impossible to catch him off guard.

Hinata's breath came in a quivering gasp; she didn't raise her head.

"Hinata?" Ino glanced over at her friend. They had all heard her, and the sound was nothing new. The girl had been crying a lot these passed few days, almost as though she had been making up for the days when she hadn't shed a tear. It seemed with Naruto was gone she no longer felt she had to be strong for him. No one could blame her. If anyone had earned the right to cry it was Hinata. She hadn't left this room in nearly a week, and hadn't ventured from the building for nearly two. Her devotion to the blonde man was sincere. But if she was going to lose it now-

_Her face._ Ino's words of consolation died in her throat.

The corner of Hinata's eye was marred with raised veins. The Byakugan was active, Ino realized. The dark haired woman's hand clamped tightly around Lee's, her fingers turning the skin beneath them white. Lee, thankfully, didn't so much as twitch an eyelid.

Pale blue eyes rose to meet green ones. Though in his current position Neji had not seen what the others had noticed, he was aware that there was something passing between the women - unspoken. His kekkei genkai responded and he peered about cautiously.

They had company.

XXXX

He watched the figures flit across the roofs of the village. They had received Sakura's warning, the Copy-nin and the hokage. It had come in the form of a message from the nurses' station at the hospital, asking Tsunade if one of her patients could be given some juice. Sakura had made the call and, per the hokage's orders, the nurses had informed her of any such requests.

Kakashi hadn't gone home; there was no reason for him to be there. Not when he might be needed here, so far from his apartment. Once the call came through he had left Tsunade at her office without another word, pausing on his way to his assigned post just long enough to inform Iruka. Now, from his perch in the shadows, only a few hundred feet from the hospital, his Sharingan easily picked out the gigantic sword strapped to the back of one of the intruders.

_Samehada._

"Is it them?" Iruka squinted into the dark. From this distance he couldn't make out anything other than two small figures alighting from building to building. Though he couldn't see the details of the two people he knew without hesitation that they were heading to the hospital. Konoha shinobi would have no reason to dart across the rooftops at that speed during the night. There were far easier and faster ways to reach the hospital than over the rooftops; everyone knew this. These ones were clearly not to be trusted. Their pace was quick, even frantic. They kept low to their path, the posture of veiled passage. Had the jounin not been watching for them Iruka was positive the intruders would have gotten by unnoticed.

But, if it was them, and this entire situation was about to end, why did he have such a bad feeling about this? "Kakashi?" The Copy-nin didn't answer. Iruka realized the same trouble echoed within his friend's thoughts.

_This is too easy._ Something was definitely wrong in Kakashi's opinion. The invaders were out in the open. True it was dark out, and they were traveling silently and - apparently - cautiously, but a real shinobi knew better than to go traipsing up to their quarry in the open, even in the middle of the night. The Akatsuki were making this too simple, despite the effort of trying to appear wary.

"They're drawing our attention away." Kakashi whispered and Iruka stiffened beside him. "They want us watching the hospital."

_Dammit!_

Kakashi was on his feet, sailing over roof tops towards the hospital.

"I'll bring the others." He called over his shoulder. "Go and warn Tsunade. They know where Naruto's hidden!"

Iruka didn't bother to wonder about the details. There was no time to waste. He swore and leapt from his hiding place to meet up with Tsunade. Unless they had moved in on the intruders, she and Jiraiya were laying in wait five blocks down, on the other side of the hospital. They were supposed to converge once the bastards were entering the hospital, but then Jiraiya had never been one to follow orders.

Iruka never questioned how Kakashi would know where to go once he had gathered up the team and dealt with the ones moving towards the their hopeful trap. It didn't surprise him that the masked jounin had learned of Naruto's sanctuary. The man was former ANBU, emphasis on the 'former'. He knew how to move, act and think like an ANBU, but now he held no unwavering allegiance to the special op's creed. He would rebel against the hokage if he felt it necessary. He would do it if lives were at stake.

If there was one thing Iruka was certain about when it came to Hatake Kakashi, it was that the man always had been one step ahead of the game.

_Make that two things,_ Iruka corrected himself. If Kakashi truly cared for someone he'd stop at nothing to see that person safe.

Iruka thanked the gods that such a man cared for Naruto.

XXXX

A spark; a blue flicker of light, beyond the window pane. Again it flashed, blinking brilliantly against the dark sky. Sakura couldn't stop herself. It was too odd to ignore.

She looked.

Glass shattered outward onto the pavement and the pink haired woman was leaping from the window to the tree below. Another strong push of her legs and she was atop the store that sat across the road from the hospital. She didn't pause; didn't hesitate. He was dangerous, but so were they. She had to get to him.

Kakashi's Chidori filled her ears like static.

A curse from behind; Ino was there. Sakura didn't stop. Three bodies twisted before her in the moonlight, dancing that dance she knew so well.

That dance of death.

A kunai spun up into fingers that knew the size and weight by reflex. She flung her wrist out, and heard the rewarding grunt of pain from the tallest of the three; Itachi's partner. Neji sped passed her, his legs stronger and faster, his Juuken echoing loudly as he drove experienced hands into his enemy. Kakashi spun out of Neji's way, clay tiles clattering to the ground as he passed over. The blue light died, but the Copy-nin did not back off.

And Lee leapt in, Konoha Reppu knocking Neji's victim from his feet. Naruto's lithe body was mimicked perfectly in Lee's control. He wouldn't drop the façade now. Not until they were dead. There would be no room for error in this; no chance that Naruto's true situation would be discovered. A fist drove down, but the shark-man rolled aside, the hand crashing through clay and wood. Naruto's voice growled into the dark and he was gone again, moving faster than Sakura could see.

The cherry blossom flipped into the air, a trailing foot catching the Uchiha off-guard as he battled against her sensei. The dark man faltered and a pale leg swung out as Ino drove her heel into Itachi's face. The man grunted, and leapt back to avoid a kunoichi fist.

_They look so much alike._ Sakura watched black eyes shift to red. He was summoning the Sharingan. It seemed a little late to do so in Sakura's opinion.

And there was Hyuuga Hinata, striking from behind and driving a palm into the back of his neck. A sickening crack and Itachi's head lolled oddly to one side; his body slipping to the roof, the red fading from his eyes. Her Byakugan reflected the moonlight and Hinata was moving again, cornering the man her cousin clashed against. Double Juukens punished Kisame's body until his movements seemed more like convulsions than impact recoils. The two Hyuugas spun away in harmonized movements at the sudden noise above and Chidori crashed down once more, white-blue light drawing crimson from the man's skull.

Kisame melted into a lifeless heap at their feet. His sword slipped from his fingers and clattered loudly from the roof to the ground below.

"Well shit," Ino sulked, pushing stray blonde hairs from her face, "that was too easy. Any idea where the _real_ freaks are?"

Flesh seemed to melt and the corpses before them became the logs they had once been. Ino harrumphed a sound that her friends translated into 'it figures'. "Fucking brothers... way to stay original."

"Nice of them to give us some credit." Sakura huffed, insulted.

"They know where Naruto is." Kakashi stared down at the ruined tiles and splintered lumber. "We've got to get the others." And then he was running for the hospital; for reinforcements.

Hinata bound from the building and followed the eldest jounin closely, her friends trailing behind. She was silent in her pursuit, her expression calm, a perfect porcelain mask. She no longer cried, no longer vented in fury. She was poised, focused and Sakura understood. Nothing else mattered to Hinata at the moment; not even her own emotions.

_This is Hinata's strength,_ Naruto's best friend realized, _this is what she fights for._

The Hyuuga was at her deadliest when those she loved were at stake.

XXXX

The door opened soundlessly, well oiled hinges giving way without disturbance. Beyond that Iruka could see nothing. The passageway was pitch black, the moonlight outside shining in just far enough for the jounin to realize that there were no light fixtures at all. Plain concrete walls and floors did little to refract the dull light inward any further.

Tsunade paid it no mind, her fingers trailed against the walls as she moved onward blindly. Jiraiya and Iruka followed, keeping close to the hokage. The door closed with a gentle click behind them, casting them into complete darkness. Iruka reached out and felt for the walls, paying close attention to the sound of the sennin's breath before him so as not to lose his comrades. No one spoke. They had been silent since Iruka had first found the pair and alerted them of the situation; a necessary precaution, they understood.

Iruka had always thought that there was more to the hokage monument than simple adoration of Konoha's heroes. Landmarks were appreciated and even expected, and Konoha _was_ the largest of the hidden villages. But the faces of their leaders carved into the side of a mountain seemed a bit... ostentatious, even if their home was the largest. So the thought of a hidden chamber beyond the stone faces-

He collided with the wall that was Jiraiya. The pair ahead had stopped moving.

A thin yellow line of light waned across the floor towards them. They had reached a door, he surmised. A fist grasped his shirt and warm breath fanned in his face.

"The place where you now stand, you will tell no one about." Gondaime's voice rasped softly. "This has been a secret of my predecessors since Shodaime's image was first carved into this rock. It is a safe-haven; a place of protection. Not even the ANBU know of it. Shizune and I brought him here." _Him. Naruto._ "Once this is over, and Itachi and his friend are dead, this place will be secret again. After that you will never speak of it again."

Iruka could only nod and mutter a weak compliance, the fingers slipping from his clothes. The distinct click of a key turning in a lock met his ears and the door opened slowly, a faintly lit room beyond.

Iruka blinked, trying to adjust to the light.

His eyes cleared and adjusted.

Broken furniture. Chairs and what had once been a table were scattered over the stone floor. A few pieces of the table smoldered as fallen candles burned at lacquered wood. The rest of the room was otherwise intact. Recessed shelves upon the walls held ancient looking scrolls, newer texts and paper lanterns, giving the chamber a cozy glow.

Tsunade released an epithet that would have made Jiraiya squirm, had he not been equally livid.

The only piece of furniture in the room that was still in tact, a hospital bed, was empty. Beside it lay the remains of a ventilator. The machine had been knocked over, its face plate broken off; its hose torn in two. The blankets lay partially strewn across the floor, empty of their inhabitant. An IV stand had been tipped over, the needle still attached to the tube, droplets of blood surrounding the tiny metal shaft.

And Naruto was gone.

XXXX

The team hurried through the quiet streets, Kakashi in the lead. Shuttered windows and darkened street lamps added to the feeling that Konoha was no longer a safe place. They knew where Kakashi was taking them once he had set their path. There was nothing at the end of this road but the mountain, and because of it these streets were rarely traveled. The best view of the stone faces was from the veranda above the academy; no one came to this place anymore. The last of the alleyway fell behind them and after one final turn they stood at the base of the great rock.

Two men donned in dark cloaks stood before them expectantly.

_That chakra,_ Neji sucked a breath in through his teeth. He had heard the Uchiha's had been a powerful clan, but this man before them clearly was blessed in his family's gifts.

_Evidentially, seeing as he killed the others._ He chided himself.

Yet the other troubled him even more. He remembered this guy. Kisame; the only one Neji could remember whose chakra could rival Naruto while he channeled the kyuubi. And that sword; that bastard sword; Neji remembered that, too. The chakra drinker. He growled a warning to the others.

White wrappings unfurled from around that great sword, tiny black eyes watching the approaching shinobi.

"Shall we begin?"

"Love to." Ino snarled, and without another word the team was moving as a whole.

Steel rang out as shuriken drew up into fingers, Tenten and Ino launching into action. Sakura and Lee swept in from behind, his speed adding to hers as he drew her round and then released her, letting Sakura sail between the two Akatsuki, kunai discharging from her fingers with deadly accuracy. A torn sleeve, a flash of blood. Better than nothing.

Another song of steel and Kusanagi was free. Itachi balanced the sword in an expert grip.

_Two formidable blades._ The blonde woman in the team arched an eyebrow.

"Very nice," Ino purred, "but first you have to be able to hit us."

Twin Byakugan were before the man, pale hands moving, nearly synchronized, experts in their craft as they deflected the blade again and again, never allowing it to so much as tear the fabric of their sleeves. Itachi's focus was claimed and he didn't have time to notice when a thin young man with a dark scowl slid in from beneath, the two blades in his hands driving for the tendons behind their ankles. Itachi dodged unscathed. Kisame cursed at a sliced boot. As they moved the tai-jutsu master in Naruto's form combined his efforts with the silver haired jounin and battled against the shark-tooth sword, four kunai keeping the thing from touching their skin. Keeping that blade occupied so the others could act.

Itachi smiled, the shining steel of his weapon unstained with blood.

"Well done," he said, "such fine skills you all have. It's too bad you stand no chance of winning."

"Fight now," Tenten barked, "gloat when you're dead." Her words only brought a chuckle from the man.

Chouji popped the red pill into his mouth.

The Nara had noticed and shouted at the man. "Naruto has to be protected," Chouji turned a grave look upon is friend. "He'd never forgive himself if the kyuubi got out. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't do this for him."

Shikamaru nodded and started counting, _one-one-thousand_ flipping off of his back in a twirl of limbs and landing smartly on his feet _two-one-thousand_...

Sakura and Tenten slipped in behind Sasuke's brother, faces drawn tight as they ducked and dodged, landing punches to the man who was now twirling in defense, the blade whistling through the air. Hinata and Neji continued their assault from the other side of the man, palms striking out with sounds that jarred their ears. Itachi's knuckles bruised and bled as the grip of the sword was the only part of Kusanagi he was able to strike them with.

"Get back!" Shikamaru's command was answered abruptly by a rush of air from above. Lee and Kakashi dove away, leaving Kisame exposed. Chouji plummeted to earth, wings of blue light upon his back. His fist met a shoulder, the ground cracked and rolled back in waves as his impact followed through.

Kisame crumpled, his sword screeching across pavement.

"Don't touch it!" Iruka burst from a door behind the battle; the hokage and sennin close on his heels. "It'll attack on its own!"

As warned, Samehada rocked back and forth slightly before flying against the concrete again, the hilt of the blade finding its way into its master's hand once more. The shark-man struggled to his knees.

"No-fucking-way!" Chouji was not one to swear as his partner did, but in this case he felt an exception was called for. Rarely - if ever - did a person walk away from Chodan Bakugeki. The substantially thinner man staggered on his feet before succumbing to the exhaustion that his family's jutsu caused.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru screamed and lurched into the fray, taking the cherry blossom's place and allowing her to aid their fallen friend.

Tsunade crushed a foot down upon Kisame's sword hand. "What did you do with him?" She shouted. Her victim groaned and pushed himself sideways, throwing the woman slightly off balance as his hand jerked free.

"Itachi," his voice was soft and composed, yet there was something behind it all, "I believe we have wasted enough time." The red-eyed man smiled, his fingers flexing around the hilt of his blade.

"I believe you're right." The ring on his right hand began to glow, his skin seemed luminescent.

"What-" Jiraiya knew that look. Though he had never witnessed it personally, he had heard enough of the Nibi no Nekomata - Nii Yugito's Two Tailed Demon Cat - to realize its presence when he saw it. "You idiots. You've bonded yourselves to the beasts you've stolen?!"

"Now that _would_ be stupid, wouldn't it?" Itachi chortled, his features twisting and molding, taking on the feline characteristics of the demon. "I've simply borrowed its power for a time. But I doubt you'll notice the difference."

Neji backed away, pulling at Hinata's arm when she didn't budge. This was a demon. _A fucking demon!_ They were in way over their heads with this! But they couldn't back out now. They had to think of something!

Kakashi focused his Sharingan. He wasn't certain he could do it anymore; he'd already burned though a lot of chakra. But if he could send Deidara's hand to another plane there was no reason why he couldn't do the same with the Uchiha's fucking head!

Naruto's tall figure stalked out from behind the group, "Leave him Kakashi," his voice grated, "Itachi is mine." Sakura stood and rushed after him. She trusted Lee; had absolute faith in his abilities. But she also knew better than to think he could take the man alone. Not now; not anymore.

"Wait, Le-" a hand plucked up hers. She turned.

The tall blonde stood beside her, his head shaking slowly. A small cloud of smoke and he was gone; Lee's features were once again his own.

Sakura whirled back to the man she had approached. He was still there, still stalking up to Itachi.

The red aura began to swirl around his legs.

Everyone had stopped moving. The world itself had stopped spinning, it seemed. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry or to scream in fear for his life. Their friend stood before them, alive and conscious! He was here! He was really, truly here!

_And he's going to take on Itachi?! No! He can't!_

"Naruto?" Hinata could barely breathe and yet she found the will to speak. Her hand clutched her throat.

He paused only long enough to glance at her. His expression was cold, impassive.

The Mangekyo Sharingan was there in his eyes, dancing dangerously. Hinata's eyes welled.

_No..._ her mind moaned where her voice failed. _No, he'd never... not his best friend..._ Someone behind her began to curse Uchiha Sasuke's name forcefully. It sounded like Shikamaru.

"This has nothing to do with anyone else. _I've_ got what you want, Itachi," Naruto's eyes - _No, not Naruto's!_ Sakura's mind screamed - turned back to the ebony haired man. "And I think you already know why I've come here." The Akatsuki grinned, whiskered cheeks pulling back to reveal newly pointed teeth.

"Well, well, little brother..."

XXXX

**A/N**

So this one... I know it started slow, but THIS ONE is finally getting steam behind it. I promise you I will not let this story fizzle out into something lame. This one is going to blow your freaking socks off! (I hope-I hope-I hope!)

Please try to review because I want to know how my action scenes are working out. (Are the exciting enough? Boring?)

So anyway, keep reading, because someone's awake and we all know what THAT means!


	7. His Savior

Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi isn't returning my phone calls. WHY isn't he returning my phone calls??? I only want to talk...

Chapter Seven: His Savior

XXXX

He was going to make it.

Itachi was behind him; an even match for speed now that the traitor possessed the power of the nekomata. But he wasn't worried. He didn't care if Itachi caught up with him. He _wanted_ the bastard to reach him. Just not yet. First they had to be away; away from the others and from Konoha.

He was aware that they were following him: Kakashi's group. The kyuubi's senses could smell their sweat and pheromones, could hear the thundering of their heartbeats. He cursed to himself. He had to move faster. They couldn't be involved in this. He had to be away from them all. If the seal were to fall with them so close... Bare feet met pavement and legs that had not known use for so long pushed forward unaffected. There would be time enough to be tired later.

The kyuubi rumbled within him, impatient.

_You'll get your blood,_ he had every intention on seeing to that, _not much longer..._

The blonde man slipped into the forest, the Sharingan making it easy to speed through the trees at a nearly suicidal pace. He could smell Itachi behind him - the smell of man and demon. He could hear the thin trill of the Kusanagi as its bare blade cut through the air. Further they darted, into the forest and away from the sleeping village.

_Not much longer..._

XXXX

They were getting away! Kisame was pursuing the two demons, but for the moment Sakura wasn't concerned with him. She had to be there for Naruto!

She was running at a speed she hadn't known since before her legs had been so badly damaged. Her skin tightened over muscles that flexed and strained, pulling at the old scars. The pale white blur of a hospital gown far ahead disappeared into the black depths of the trees. Sakura ignored the pain in her calves and pushed herself harder.

_Can't lose him, can't lose him, can't -_

But wasn't he already lost?

_No!_ He'd never have given up on her. She refused to give up on him.

She had made a promise to them and she be damned if she'd let _him_ down, too!

It hadn't taken them long to give chase. Chouji's condition was stable enough, Tsunade had seen to that, and the man had practically begged them to leave him behind. Everyone was going to be needed for the fight, he had told them, and he would be fine in a little while.

There was a scuffling ahead. Lee had caught up with Kisame. It wasn't hard; he hadn't been wearing his weights. A groaning cry and the blade arm spun, slashing at the jounin. He dodged, leapt and was behind the invader before the man knew where Lee had gone. The sword screamed through the night air again, but Lee was no longer standing in its path.

"Watch the goddamned blade!" Neji shouted and jerked his head to the side, the Samehada's wake billowing his hair. Speed. They needed speed to get this one. They had to be fast enough to dodge that sword and still land the blows. Lee should stay. And Neji. Kisame was pretty messed up already, thanks to Chouji, but he still had plenty of fight left in him.

"Don't stop!" The Hyuuga man ordered the others, his Juuken already battering the hands wrapped around the sword hilt. "Go after him!"

A flash of colors and the rush of air on either side, his teammates sped passed, into the woods; not stopping, not even slowing. In a second all were in the woods but two, who entered this fight without hesitation; Jiraiya and Iruka.

"You'll need help!" Naruto's first sensei spun, a raised kunai deflecting the blow that had been aimed at him. Jiraiya broke in and brought a leg down upon the sword arm, staving off the next attack.

Neji didn't argue; he just kept striking out.

Kisame brought the sword up again, and Neji flipped backward, avoiding the razor edge. Grey lips parted and spewed water into the air. The liquid moved as though sentient, swirling before them, preparing for a jutsu. Neji remembered this; remembered what this guy was capable of. Hand seals flew and he readied the Hakke Rokujuyon Sho. Iruka pounced, aiming high; Jiraiya aimed low from the other side. Lee's arm hooked above, bare fists battering against the sword hand. Kisame grunted.

"In the words of my most fearless friend," Lee bared his teeth, fingers flexing in preparation, "'bring it'."

XXXX

Kusanagi's blade swung for his face, a taloned hand for his stomach. Naruto's legs pushed back and danced out of both strikes, the man within paying little attention when the tree beside them creaked and groaned and fell.

"You're not fighting, little brother," Itachi's voice was feral, a low purr behind the tone, "I thought you came to kill me." A rumbled growl vibrated from Naruto's throat.

"Shut up and fight."

The grip shifted on the blade in Itachi's hand. "Oh, I intend to, believe me!"

Fanged jaws opened and a ball of roiling fire spewed forth. The Rasengan met the attack, flames splashed over the nearby tree trunks, setting the area around them on fire.

The burning aura surrounding Naruto's frame intensified. "Get out of here!" And the nekomata realized those red eyes were not focused on him.

Itachi felt it then, and watched curiously as a figure flew overhead, twisting and contorting to face him as she moved. Another figure moved in mirror image to the first.

"Odama Rasengan!" Hinata's cry pierced the night and a ball of swirling energy exploded from four palms. Hinata hurtled back, the clone dissipated, her feet planted soundly upon the trunk of a tree and she pushed off again, beginning another assault. The Kusanagi spun before him, deflecting the attack, Itachi's smile spreading like an oil slick across his face.

"Hello little girl." He said softly and lunged, the blade hissing through the air. Hinata faltered and twisted in mid-air, breaking her momentum. Her lover's form broke in before her; a glowing wall of heat and force. His Sharingan swirled and he bared long white fangs, hands ready to slash out, tensing for the blow to come.

Shuriken clanged against an impervious blade, but they had been enough to upset Itachi's balance. Tenten's feet tore through the earth as she skidded under his arm, another jerk of her wrist and more projectiles launched from her fingers. Itachi corrected, bringing the blade down to deflect the attack.

Red eyes spun and bore into white. "Give it to me." Hinata shook her head, not understanding. Naruto's voice had never been so cold to her before. She could see Shikamaru in the background, dodging the gleaming blade. Ino's blow missed; Itachi was just too fast for them.

"Why are you doing this?" She whispered to the red eyes before her. Naruto's head jerked. A cry of pain and blood stained the blade in the nekomata's grip; Shikamaru's shoulder and chest were left torn and bleeding. Tenten dropped beside the man, her arms pressing into the wound as she desperately tried to slow the bleeding. Kakashi leapt in to give the two some cover.

"Sakura! Ino!" Tenten screamed for one of the medics. Sakura responded first.

A snarl from fanged jaws: "Now!" The blonde man took a step towards the Hyuuga, claws extended, and Hinata was forced to lash out, palms striking out in her family's most trusted attack, yet missed each time. Naruto's body dodged each blow, not returning or even blocking. Ino screamed out Hinata's name from somewhere beyond the blonde's back.

_Not touching me,_ she thought, her Byakugan watching the aura and his limbs closely, _Not touching me!_

_'Give it to me.'_ His eyes roved over her as they moved, watching everything she did.

_He doesn't want to..._ She understood and stepped into him, increasing the speed of her movements, never assuming she'd actually land a single hit. She altered between each variation, never repeating the same move twice.

"There," she whispered, finishing her attack with a final missed blow to his chest, "that's all of it. Now go." Naruto's body whirled and he turned the Juuken on Itachi, clawed fingers deflecting the Kusanagi as others made contact with his foe. _I was right!_ His movements blurred beyond sight and the blonde's body moved with a skill that spoke of years of training, though it had only taken seconds.

Kakashi was there, attacking Itachi from behind, watching Naruto's movements and duplicating them on their adversary. The pair moved in perfect sync and Sakura found herself marveling at the speed the Copy-nin could achieve when he was driven to it. He was actually keeping up with the demons! And though it was clear Itachi's Sharingan was giving him the ability to dodge the attacks, it was also clear that the odds were stacked against the nekomata. He was only one and they were two, all with Sharingans and moving faster and faster with every strike. Sooner or later the two jounin wouldn't miss anymore.

"I told you to get out!" The blonde roared in a kyuubi-blended voice. Kakashi ignored the teen and kept at Itachi. Two palms struck out, two legs pushed back to dodge. Perfect synchronization.

"Fuck you, Uchiha." Ino hissed in Kakashi's stead, and slid in between the shinobi, a leg finding its target and collided with Itachi's back.

She screamed. Blistered skin beneath her boot stung in response to the burn. "Goddammit, don't touch him! This one burns you, too!"

Naruto's growl turned into a scream and the man within the blonde's body plunged in, one arm spinning over Itachi's, pushing the sword tip into the ground, unaffected by the nekomata's aura. Kakashi's imitation forced Itachi's left arm down as well, though he cried out from the burn he suffered - Ino's warning coming too late for him. Naruto's skull drove into Itachi's, as fire launched from the Akatsuki's lips.

The kyuubi howled and recoiled, the burns on his face rapidly beginning to heal.

"A lovely trick." Itachi commented. "I'd love to see you do it again." The fanged mouth opened once more.

Samehada struck the ground between the demons, its blade sinking deep into the soft earth. Tenten braced and turned, ready to launch herself into a pinwheel at Kisame.

But the shark man wasn't there. It was Lee and Neji, and the latter was grinning wickedly, wiping the blood from the gash on his jaw.

"Your friend won't be able to join you, traitor," he hissed, "ever."

"Neji!" Tenten's face lit up, one worry now firmly behind her. Lee stole a look at Sakura and found relief in her eyes as well.

The purr in Itachi's throat became a guttural roar and he charged at the newcomers. Lee's feet spread and his signature stance was adopted once more.

Tsunade dropped from a tree, wrenching the Samehada from the ground and wracking it against Itachi's back. The sword hissed through the yellow aura and connected, bright red spattering and sizzling against the blade.

Itachi howled and spun, driving the Kusanagi into the hokage's chest in a move that was so fast the sword disappeared into nothing more than a blur.

"Gondaime!" Naruto's voice joined with Sakura's and they watched as the fifth hokage slumped to the ground into a pool of her own blood. Ino moved without thought, jerking the blonde woman onto her back, shaking hands already glowing blue.

Naruto's grip was on the fallen blade instantly, the man screaming in wrath and pushing the shark-skinned creation at his aggressor. Kusanagi checked and sliced though the sword like it was made of paper.

"Kisame..." The two-tailed demon hissed. His point was made. The kyuubi snarled and dropped the remains of the Samehada. Who needed a blade when blood was so much sweeter on the fingers? The beast's bloodlust was infectious and the man within found himself yearning for the feel of hot blood on his skin.

Itachi's blood.

Yet he held the beast in check.

"The difference between us," that strange rumbling voice gritted out, "is that you'll kill to avenge a comrade. I'll kill to protect them."

"Really? Prove it. Do it now!" The nekomata challenged and leapt for the nearest shinobi; Kakashi. A scream of agony-

-and Itachi's left arm was wrenched from his body, clawed fingers slicing through the appendage at the shoulder, severing limb from body.

"Don't you _ever_ touch my sensei." The blonde man growled. Itachi leapt back, his laden hand pressed over the hole in his shoulder, blood oozing over his fingers. The dark man shuddered.

"Such sentiment for a Uchiha," Itachi growled, "it doesn't become you, Sasuke." Naruto's face contorted.

_"I-am-not-Sasuke!"_ He screamed and lunged once more for the traitor.

Kakashi's heart stopped in his chest.

_Naruto?_ He dared to hope once more.

He was not alone. "Oh Kami!" Hinata cried out through spread fingers. "Oh, Kami! Naruto, you're alive?!"

He couldn't stop himself. Her voice - they had thought he was dead? Before he realized what he was doing Naruto turned and looked, eyes still swirling with the Mangekyo Sharingan, yet so much gentler.

Kusanagi pushed through his chest and twisted roughly. Red eyes widened and Naruto doubled over, gurgling on his own blood, and slowly slipped from the blade.

Hinata screamed - _did someone else scream with her?_ - and leapt into action, passing her lover by. Lee was moving in, screaming out as he opened the first gate of his Hachimon. Hinata's arms cast out beside her as she rushed in; Neji was aware of what was about to happen.

"Get him out of there!" He bolted around their foe and gripped Naruto by his shoulders, howling as the red energy surrounding his friend burned his flesh. Lee halted his attack, his teammate's actions made no sense. But Naruto would definitely die if they left him there, Neji knew. The Hyuuga man jerked his shoulders and heaved the blonde man away, Naruto's body sliding to a halt against the severed tree trunk.

"Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho!" And Hinata's arms were moving, her body bending and twisting gracefully, white arcs of chakra following her hands as she moved against Itachi. He jumped back, moving and blocking constantly but she followed and adapted, the white light growing and spreading as she increased the flow of her chakra into the attack. He struck out with the Kusanagi and she dipped low, avoiding the blade as easily as though a genin were wielding it. His blood loss was her gain; he was slowing down, getting weaker; she was strong and determined. And it was clear that where Naruto could regenerate with the kyuubi's help Itachi had no such advantage from the nekomata. Blood dribbled down from his shoulder, his lips were turning white. Hinata spun and arced around him, her arms nothing more than white trails of motion in the moonlight; never allowing that yellow energy or the blade to touch her.

It was beautiful and terrifying all at once, to watch the Hyuuga woman dance with death so expertly.

"You're going to die, Itachi!" Ino cried almost hysterically, relief and revulsion washing over her as she watched Hinata move with a strength and speed she would have never thought the demure woman capable of. "Hyuuga Hinata is going to fucking kill you!"

_Kami, she's right,_ Kakashi was in awe of the black haired beauty who struck at the demon again and again with her chakra, avoiding the burns that the yellow energy could lay upon her. Kakashi had been of the belief that the kyuubi would bring about the death of this terror- that it would take a demon to slay a demon. But while Naruto and his captive may have played a large part of his demise-

-a howl of agony and Itachi's right arm fell to the ground with a sickening flop; Hinata's chakra blades severed it with ease. The yellow glow around him flickered and ebbed, that strange red ring no longer feeding him the power he had wielded so easily. Hinata did not pause, did not slow, did not back down. Itachi leapt back and she followed, her combination jutsu throwing arcs of light in every direction.

Her face was placid, Sakura noticed; clear of emotion, empty of everything but the task before her, though the Byakugan did grant her appearance a certain ferocity.

Another dip of her torso, another arc of her arm -

"It was never supposed to be you," he hissed, "it was supposed to be _him_!" She spun, her jutsu following her movements, obeying her will.

"You don't get to make that choice," she replied.

And Itachi's head rolled to the ground.

XXXX

Silence. Or near to it, at least.

Shikamaru's labored breathing had calmed, Sakura's healing jutsu was finally taking hold. Ino still struggled with Tsunade; the woman had lost a lot of blood. But at least she was holding on. Gurgled breaths were clear again and the hole in her chest was closing well.

Hinata hadn't moved. Not so much as a finger. She had stood there for what seemed an eternity, staring down at the body at her feet. No one knew what to do. Kakashi knew they should be taking the injured in to the hospital. He _knew_ they should be going to see what had happened to Iruka and Jiraiya; that they should go and collect Chouji, but he couldn't bring himself to move.

It had happened so quickly. Nothing felt real anymore.

The Hyuuga woman finally bent and pulled the ring from Itachi's finger, twirling the accessory in her fingers absently. Neji sighed and stepped forward, burned hands retrieving the unstoppable sword that had been kicked away. Both items would have to be placed in protective custody, as well as the ring in his pocket; Kisame's ring.

A groan from behind.

Naruto was pushing himself up to his feet, a hand rubbing his chest; the kyuubi's power had taken care of him as it always had. He stood and ran a hand over the back of his head; a familiar gesture; an unmistakably 'Naruto' gesture.

That was all it took. Hinata's china mask composure crumbled and she sobbed, rushing to him, throwing her arms around his chest, her fists pounding weakly against his back. She was trying to be angry with him; trying to be furious that he had made her worry. But that particular emotion would not come to the surface. All she could feel was relief.

It was over. He was safe.

"You're still there! You're still there!" Hinata repeated the mantra and re-repeated it.

"Yeah," he said hoarsely, "yeah, I'm still here. Hinata, I'm so-" A pale hand pressed to his lips. She didn't want to hear an apology. She just wanted her Naruto back. His red eyes closed and he sighed into her palm, his voice sounding closer to the one his fiancée knew so well.

The others watched, dumbfounded. The aura was still around him, yet Hinata didn't recoil in pain.

It was just as the last time. She was impervious to that energy. And just as before they couldn't understand how or why this was so. But now there was someone with them who had the presence of mind to say something.

"What..." Tenten watched in awe as Naruto's arms wrapped around the crying woman, his face buried into her hair. The aura died back until nothing glowed around them but the moon and the dying embers of Itachi's fire. "How could she hold him like that? Why... why didn't it burn her, too?"

No one answered. No one tried. Naruto shook his head, thick blond locks falling around her sleek black ones. His shoulders started to shake and no one had to ask about that either.

"I think..." the low, muffled voice came from him at last, choked with emotion, "I think it's because... she's the other half of my soul."

XXXX

He went back to that place. He didn't know why. It wasn't like he was there. Naruto knew that for a certainty.

Sasuke wasn't _anywhere_. Not anymore.

The graveyard was empty in the early morning light. Frost would be coming to their home soon, but for now dew covered the grasses and headstones, cooling the air around him. The prayer sticks stood just as they always had, that same hitai-ate was still on the marker's base. Tanned fingers reached down to touch the cold metal.

"You bastard," he whispered, though the epithet was spoke with affection and a sad smile on his lips.

The dark and somber teen had never been one for kind words or deeds, Naruto remembered; at least not where the blonde boy was concerned. And so the gesture had seemed so strange... so... painful.

He hadn't come to Naruto's body to take over; to use his friend's strength against Itachi.

A gift, he had said from within Naruto's mind, just before the final fight against his brother. That had been the reason.

The gift of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

_He had known,_ tears welled in eyes the color of the spring sky, _he knew all along how important he was to me. The Mangekyo Sharingan..._ One could only obtain it through killing their best friend, and only when the aggressor had the Sharingan. Sasuke had known what to do. He knew what it would take. It would take a forbidden jutsu, perfect timing and the strength to willingly fade into nothingness.

He also had known that he wanted Naruto to have a piece of him forever.

Naruto had to admit it, Sasuke had always been stronger than him - in _all_ ways.

"I can't stay long." Naruto said at last to the carved stone. "I've got plans today. But I had to come and give you the news. They're going to add your name to the monument. It took a lot, but we made it happen. You're going to be remembered as a hero, Sasuke. Betcha never saw that one coming!" He tried to brandish that cocky grin, but it wouldn't come. The same idea repeated again and again in his thoughts.

"You could have lived, you know." His chin began to pucker. "You could have taken over. Four years ago I think you would have. Anything to stop your brother, right? But when you finally got the chance, you didn't. You just faded away. Sasuke... I..."

A tear dropped to the stone at his feet.

"I wish you hadn't gone." He admitted. "I wish you could have stayed. I know it seems weird, but at least you were still there. The others don't get it. They try, but they don't. You never came back for them, you see?" His voice quavered. He was going to lose it. "They never thought of you as 'back'. Not even Ino, and she actually saw you for a few minutes. But as far as I'm concerned you were back, even if it was just in my head. You came back and now... now it's like... it's like I have to see you die all over again." His eyes squinted shut and he bowed his head.

"Goddammit, Sasuke, why did you always have to make everything so damned _hard_?"

Of course, there was no answer. And there never would be. Sasuke was gone from the world and from his mind. Only he and the kyuubi remained; and Naruto's memories of the man who had been the closest thing he'd ever known to a brother.

"I've gotta go, okay?" He wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve, realizing too late that he shouldn't have done that. "I'll... I'll see you later, I guess." One last deep breath and Naruto turned and left.

With every step he felt just a little bit better. Sasuke would always be a part of him - the Sharingan in his eyes would see that he never forgot - but sometimes maybe it was best to put the past behind you.

He'd follow Sakura's example. He'd move on. That was all he could do. It was going to be hard, and he knew there would be times when he'd slip, but it was what he had to do. And he still had the others. They'd help.

Sasuke would have understood, Naruto knew.

And besides, right now there was somewhere he had to be.

XXXX

It was too much.

Sakura beamed, really and truly beamed. She had never liked her jounin uniform, but today she wore it proudly. For him. This was a very important day and she was going to show just how thrilled she was; even if it meant she had to put that hideous vest on.

They were all dressed in their uniforms, though Chouji's was still hanging loosely and Shikamaru could not yet zip his vest all the way up. Team Naruto; the remains of The Rookie Nine.

His family. None of them would have missed this for anything.

He stood before Tsunade with his back to the assembly, that white robe making him look incredibly broad in the shoulders, his long, shaggy blonde hair completely at odds with the formal garment. He had to bow down a little for her; Tsunade was still having trouble moving her arms without pulling at her chest wound. _Though you can't tell it when you look at her._ Gondaime's smile was almost as big as Sakura's. Almost.

She had always thought the hokage's hat was a bit silly looking, but seeing it there, atop her best friend's head, Sakura just couldn't picture anything looking more right. Fingers tangled into hers and she glanced to her right. Lee was peering at her from the corner of his eye, smiling. She squeezed his fingers in return. He understood her.

"He did it," Kakashi said from Sakura's left, "after a lifetime of spouting off that same stupid declarative every single day; Naruto finally went and did just what he said he'd do." Together, with Iruka and Jiraiya, the three men who had helped shape Naruto into the man that stood before them couldn't help but feel pride.

A twelve year old boy with goggles on his forehead; _'Iruka-sensei, I'm starved! Let's go get some ramen!'_

That stubborn genin who hadn't shut up once; _'Hey! Ero-sennin! What are you gonna do about my training?'_

That amazing kid who had helped his sensei take back his life; _'From now on I'm gonna follow the Way of Naruto!'_

"So this is what it's like to be a proud father, huh?" Iruka's voice was so soft he almost wondered if he had thought the statement.

"Yeah," Kakashi's answer proved he had spoken after all, "yeah, I think it is." Jiraiya said nothing, but smiled.

It was finally happening. Years of dreams and vows and blood and tears had finally granted him his wish. Hinata watched as Naruto's coronation was completed, her eyes shining. That man, that magnificent man loved her. He _loved_ her! And since that night three weeks ago not a day had gone by that he hadn't told her so; hadn't thanked her for saving him.

His savior, he called her. She couldn't bring herself to believe that. After all, he had saved her first. That day in the hospital, the first time he had kissed her, he had saved her that day.

She had just returned the favor.

She didn't know it yet, but he planned on marrying her tonight. If she had known she'd probably be a tearful mess right now. His Hinata... he couldn't imagine loving anyone else.

Tsunade's speech was over and Naruto turned to face his charges, his village. _His_ Konoha. The sixth hokage's gaze found his soon-to-be-bride; bright blue eyes sparkling in the autumn sunlight.

And, acting as though nothing in the world had changed, Rokudaime - her beloved Naruto - let loose that silly grin she so adored.

She couldn't help herself.

Hinata laughed out loud.

_fin_

XXXX

**A/N**

So that's it. No more chapters. No more sequels. I'm putting this one to bed. It kind of makes me sad to finish my first story, but I know it'll have to be done eventually and this seems (to me) to be the perfect way to end it.

Man! I worked my butt off on that action sequence! Freaking LONG! 'Sairin: Kata Tsubasa no Tenshi' - FF7 Advent Children's Version of 'One-Winged Angel' - once again came through for me! You ever wanna write an action sequence? I advise putting on some music that _seriously_ gets your blood pumping first! But I'm tired now. Actually, physically tired. But in a good way; in a really satisfied way. I hope you guys liked reading this story as much as I liked writing it. (And I LOVED writing it, let me tell you!)

So... review please! I need to know how my action sequences come off, as I currently have plans to write another action fic. Did you guys like it? Did it get boring after a while? Should it be longer/shorter? I'd like to hear what all of you are thinking. I want to suck in my readers and create a story that people can't help but become addicted to. :) And for that I need feedback.

Anyway, feel free to contact me directly with any requests/ ideas/ complaints, whatever. I love taking on new challenges and I love hearing from my readers.

Thanks everyone!


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